Inescapable
by FooZater
Summary: Carter tells Daniel she’s engaged and Jack’s been lending his ear…
1. Default Chapter

Title: Inescapable

Disclaimer: Yeah, like Pete would still be alive if I owned it! It all belongs to Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions.

Pairing: S/J

Rating: PG13

Season: Eight

Summary: Carter tells Daniel she's engaged and Jack's been lending his ear…

AN: Thanks to those who reviewed my last (and first) SG1 fic, you gave me a little encouragement to dabble a little more.

* * *

"You okay?" 

Daniel's eyes lifted distractedly from his computer screen to see Sam standing just inside his doorway. He tapped at a key on his keyboard and cleared his throat.

"Fine." She eyed him suspiciously as she stepped on inside. Sam knew something about the events of the last few days was bothering him. She knew what Daniel encountered with 'The Trust' was something that didn't pass fleeting through anyone's mind, but for someone at the SGC, it was basically another day in the life. And yet, she had caught that look in Daniel's eyes too much over the last few days, something else was eating at him.

"Teal'c's all settled back in," she offered, hoping it was a safe way of entering into the avenue of conversation she wanted to travel.

"Yeah," he breathed, leaning back in his chair. "Pity, his place was nice. He has a real flare for decorating."

Sam smiled as she leaned against his desk.

"Have you talked to him?" Daniel asked. She nodded and fiddled with some artefact lying atop a few notebooks.

"He said something about the world not being ready for him," she grinned. Daniel smirked at the Jaffa's humour.

"Spending too much time with Jack," he mused, smiling softly and shaking his head.

"He's not the only one."

Daniel's thoughtful eyes phased back into the room at her sudden remark, finding her staring pointedly at him. He raised his eyebrows at her and pushed his glasses up his nose.

"You know you can talk to me, Daniel," Sam almost whispered, now avoiding his eyes.

"I know, Sam," he replied firmly but quietly. Her eyes drifted back to him as she felt him sigh. "I'm okay, Sam," he assured her with steady eyes. "Really," he added when she kept looking for something beyond what he was saying. He frowned. "I've even talked about it…" It was almost an afterthought and something about the way he said it intrigued her. It also made her wonder when he had stopped talking to her about things like this, and for that matter, who he had talked to.

Daniel saw the question in her expression. He licked his lips. If he didn't answer, she would only ask.

"Jack."

"General O'Neill?"

She was surprised, but he had expected that. He nearly held back the half smile that wormed its way out at the sudden change in their friend's title. She never felt comfortable calling him Jack. It said a hell of a lot about more than just her military status.

"Yeah."

"Oh." Now he could tell she was kind of disappointed that he had confided in Jack over her, an example of the exact kind of person who avoided, at all costs, the prospect of talking about your feelings. Absently, he decided she was half right. Jack didn't mind, when it called for it, talking about other people's feelings, only his own.

"Thought he might have said something to you," Daniel probed. He didn't think anything of the sort in actual fact. Jack had come to see him almost as soon as he got back and he had seemed a little too concerned for Daniel … a little too interested in everything he could possibly think of. It's not that Daniel thought that it was unusual for Jack to be concerned about him but it was a little unusual for Jack to actually step so readily into showing it, he had always left that sort of stuff to Sam.

Sam was shaking her head with haste.

"I'm just glad you're ok, Daniel." She was moving to leave and Daniel remembered something Jack had said during their talk. He'd told Jack that he wished that just for once, something good could happen around here. What had he said?

_Tell that to Carter._

That's what he said just before he left, leaving Daniel wondering what really went on in the mind of Jack O'Neill.

"Sam!" She turned. "Is there something you wanted to tell me?"

Sam frowned at him, she had forgotten. It was among the reasons she had come to visit Daniel in the first place, but how did he know that?

"Ah, yeah, I … ah …" She started walking towards his desk again and then thrust her hand into Daniel's view. His eyes grew like saucers and suddenly a few things fell into place for him. "Pete and I are engaged."

"Oh…" He jumped forward in his seat, collecting himself. "I mean… congratulations, Sam," he added belatedly thinking he should hug her but for some reason, not wanting to. Instead he smiled and she dropped her hand to her side.

"Thanks." He knew she hadn't missed his awkward reaction.

"You told Jack." It wasn't a question. Well, she knew what he was thinking; he might as well say it. She dropped her eyes to the floor. "What did he say?"

"He doesn't know I've accepted." She coughed slightly and stared interestedly at the ground. Wheels turned in Daniel's head as he watched her.

"You discussed it with him?" The rising pitch to Daniel's voice left no room to debate that he couldn't believe she had. "Was he…" Daniel found he didn't want to say 'pissed', but found there wasn't much else to substitute it with. He opted for another route. "…ok with it?"

"Why wouldn't he be?" She bit, her head snapping up to him. Daniel recoiled slightly and noticing this, Sam quickly realised she had already forfeited any further argument in that particular area.

"Why would you discuss it with him?" Daniel countered, not letting her off so lightly.

"I just needed someone to talk it over with," she replied more than a little embarrassed now. Daniel scratched his nose and winced.

"Jack's been talking a lot about other people's problems recently," he said with one eyebrow raised. "Funny that." She wasn't going to bite, he knew. "Did he help you decide?"

Her eyelashes flitted furiously and her eyes shifted uneasily. "It helped me … sort out a few things." Daniel shot her an 'I see' look.

"Why'd you say yes, Sam?" He asked with resigned tone as he tapped his fingers on his desk, squinting his eyes at her. Her face turned angry, but he'd expected that, was prepared for it.

"Because I love him!" She snapped, her body pushing from his desk as if it was protesting at him in its own little way. Love who, Daniel wondered.

Daniel threw his eyebrows up in a quick shrug and licked his lips, his eyes appearing from underneath slightly lowered lids.

"I don't have to justify this to you Daniel…" Her voice was lowered but she was still angry, and leaving.

Daniel took a breath and spoke, "No…" he began, stretching the word out in a tone that often warned someone he was about to impart some knowledge on them. "Not to me."

Sam looked at him a moment, her eyes slowly dropping. As she left, she closed her eyes briefly, knowing Daniel's words were going to be ringing in her ears for a long time.

* * *

"What!" Jack screamed as someone knocked on his door, thumping his fist down onto the billionth report he looked at that day. He swore he'd already seen this one. 

"Busy, Jack?" Daniel poked his head through a crack in the door, smirking.

"No, Daniel, I'm just catching up on some light reading," he retorted acerbically as his resident smart-ass archaeologist stepped inside, closing the door behind him. Daniel threw himself into the seat in front of Jacks desk, eyeing the mountain of paperwork haphazardly strewn before Jack. He wondered what kind of filing system Jack had… if he had one at all. Jack cleared his throat. "Something I can help you with?" Jack had pulled a face that was barely containing his irritation.

"Just came by for a chat," Daniel said casually, glancing around and slouching in his seat.

"Not really in a chatty mood, Daniel," Jack said, and Daniel wondered if Jack ever spoke without his trusty friend, sarcasm.

"So," Daniel ignored him. "How've you been?"

"Daniel…" Daniel almost smiled; he heard that particular tone so many times.

"Been a big week for all of us, Teal'c moving back in, me…"

"Daniel!" A shout this time.

"-getting kidnapped, Sam getting engaged." Daniel stopped as Jack's mouth opened and remained that way. He watched as Jack processed his little tid-bit, closed his mouth, sighed and pretended to be engrossed in the report that, for all he knew, was probably upside-down.

"You about finished, Daniel?" Jack asked, not lifting his eyes from the random patterns he was scrawling with his pen, clearly livid.

"I just thought you'd like to know."

"I'm touched by your concern for keeping me updated on the gossip."

"Jack," Daniel implored his friend to look at him.

"Don't you have some rocks to be dusting?" Jack wondered as he shot his head up briefly.

"Don't you have an engagement to be breaking up?"

"What?" Jack threw his pen down with such force it bounced off the desk and fell onto the floor, rolling unnoticed into the corner.

"Don't pretend this isn't pissing you off, Jack," Daniel demanded with a touch of anger.

"The only thing pissing me off right now is you Daniel!" Jack shouted, incensed.

"I won't sit back and watch you do this," Daniel told him, gripping the arms of the seat and wondering if the heat in Jack's eyes would erupt in violence sooner than he anticipated. "Or her." Best to distribute some of the blame. "You love her, Jack." Jack's eyes flashed suddenly and then dropped to the desk, awkwardly.

"What would you have me do, Daniel?" Jack's voice came as a surprise, sad and retiring. Daniel blinked; he hadn't been expecting him to disarm so quickly.

"Tell her."

"She already knows."

"She loves you too, Jack," Daniel assured him tentatively hoping that although Jack knew this also, that saying it was an entirely different matter. Jack's eyes looked to him, slowly.

"She needs to be happy, Daniel." Jack told him with a devotion underneath his words that made Daniel take a sharp breath.

"This isn't that… not him, Jack"

Jack nestled back into his seat, relaxing somewhat and rubbing at the little stubble that had formed on his chin, thinking.

"Then who, Daniel? Me?" Jack eyed him seriously. "A grumpy, old fart that can barely keep up with her half the time and who's not permitted never mind willing to tell her how he feels?"

"Jack…"

"No, Daniel, Carter deserves more. I've had my life… wasted it and I'm not about to waste hers too." Jack stared hard at his desk, his jaw set and a pained look gripping the semblance of a blank face.

"She's more alive when she's around you than any other time." Jack snorted but didn't look up. "She's all but waiting for you to talk her out of this, Jack, and here I find you actually talked her into it."

"You're nuts, Daniel."

"What did you say to her, Jack?" He avoided his eyes. "What did she ask you?"

Jack replayed the conversation in his head easily, had burned it into his memory.

_What about you? If things had been different…_

"Nothing."

"Sure…"

"It's a moot point, Daniel. It's inescapable," Jack said, rooting for another pen and rustling some papers in front of him. "Now if you don't mind, I have a lot of work to do." Jack glared at him with steel eyes, willing him to leave. Daniel got up and walked to the door.

Pausing in the doorway he turned, "Things could be different, Jack. You just have to get off your sorry ass and do something about it."

Jack exhaled at length, staring at the door and cursing the meddling gene that permeated Daniel Jackson's every living cell.

* * *

AN: More will follow, as soon as my muse can handle! 


	2. Inescapable: Chapter 2

Inescapable: Chapter 2

AN: Disclaimer and all in Chapter 1. Apologies for any spelling/grammer mistakes etc, I try my best but you always miss something! Oh, and thanks for all the kind reviews ... even if I do seem to be confusing a few people - sorry, it's a hobby of mine. I'll try to keep it in check!

* * *

_I'd kill for a steak, _Jack thought as he slid along the line of culinary disgusts on offer to the SGC's finest. _Finest! Huh!_

"O'Neill?" Jack whipped his head around; he had forgotten that he asked Teal'c to join him for lunch. The Jaffa had paused behind him with his token eyebrow that said a million things, standing to attention. That was why Jack liked Teal'c so much, when he thought something; he rarely said it unless it was imperative. Unlike Daniel and his never ending barrage of sentences that seemed to, like the archaeologist himself, often trip over themselves and certainly unlike Carter, who would pause, wince and come out with something that would encourage some sort of ruthless reaction inside him. Nope, Teal'c just had his trusty eyebrow, silent and only slightly frustrating at the worst of times. Jack smiled and the eyebrow twitched. He supposed he'd been staring into space too long.

"I've really gotta have a word with someone about the food in this joint," he remarked, turning and pushing his tray further, grabbing at a few things idly as he went.

"Is Colonel Carter joining us?" Teal'c asked as they found a table. Jack, just about to sit down, froze. He would kill Daniel if this was one of his insane plans. He lowered slowly into the seat opposite Teal'c and threw a confused glance at him, hoping silently that Carter wouldn't be joining them anytime soon. Teal'c's eyes moved to the table and Jack noticed the eyebrow again.

"You procured blue Jell-O," Teal'c said simply and Jack was about to argue when he followed Teal'c's eyes to his tray and spotted the offensive food wobbling at him in mock.

"Damn," he muttered under his breath, throwing the Jell-O a seething look. Most of the time when he went to lunch with Carter, which up until recently was quite a lot, he had always reached for the desert for her. She prattled on so much about the Jell-O at the back being the nicest and because she couldn't reach it, he always got it for her. Damn her. And damn blue Jell-O. "Felt like a change." Teal'c lifted his jaw a little but returned to his food without more question. Jack sighed in relief.

"Colonel Carter has informed you that she is to be married?"

Jack's sharp intake of breath brought a little food with it and he found himself spluttering and coughing to dislodge it.

"Are you all right?" Teal'c asked unperturbed as Jack finally began to draw breath again.

He glared at him, "Peachy." He cleared his throat and stabbed at the food that had nearly choked him, perhaps his potatoes were consorting with the enemy. He eyed the blue Jell-O suspiciously. "Caught wind of it, yeah." He absently answered the question.

"I believe it to be cause for a celebration," Teal'c began, eyeing Jack with a faint smile at the prospect of a party. "Even cause for… cake." The smile grew and Jack frowned at it. That would be one cake he would willingly miss.

"Cake, yes."

"DanielJackson."

Jack's shoulders tensed and it took a lot of self control not to curse as he felt Daniel behind him. "Hey guys!" Jack's eyes twitched with antagonism.

"We were just discussing Colonel Carter's engagement," Teal'c said as Daniel sat down keeping his stare on Jack, who was attacking his potatoes, head bowed. Daniel smiled and threw his eyebrows up as he looked at Teal'c. "I suggested there should be cake. O'Neill agrees."

"Really?" He looked back to Jack, seeing his eyes move to the corner only. "Sounds like a plan. I'll tell Sam, we could have a party." Daniel shifted in his seat, leaning towards Jack. "Your place?"

Jack threw his fork down and straightened up. "Hasn't been dusted in a while, Daniel," Jack spoke through gritted teeth, his eyes resting on Daniel. "Wouldn't want to… irritate your condition."

Daniel's lips quirked. "Fine, Sam's place then." He slapped the table as he got up to find Sam. As he left, he swore he heard Jack groan.

* * *

"… what do you think?" Daniel bobbed on his toes, anticipating Sam's answer. She had been trying to ignore him, busying herself with some doohickey while he relayed the plans that he, Teal'c and … reluctantly, Jack, had made. Her eyes flit up and she paused.

"That'd be nice," she said, sounding contrary to what she was saying.

"Great, I'll let the guys know."

Sam stared after Daniel as he left, sighing. She rested her elbows on her desk and wondered just how bad this little party could go. Daniel was being sly, without actually being sly … if that was possible. She couldn't have said anything other than yes, she couldn't have requested that Jack not be there and he knew it. How was she going to get through an evening of Jack in his recent mood while celebrating her engagement? Jack's mood hadn't been the chirpiest the last time she saw him and although that had been a while ago she assumed it hadn't changed much – Siler had acquired a few new wrinkles in the last few days alone. No, spending time with the General would not be fun.

This, unfortunately, was the least of her worries. General O'Neill would mope about and make her feel guilty, yes, but she could deal with that – quip at his sarcastic remarks, avoid his eyes, trade barbs if necessary and if that failed, drown it in a few beers. Her problem was going to be a matter of fending off a nattering, intrusive rock duster! Whatever he had planned, she had no doubt would cause waves, big, bad, violent waves. She would have to threaten Daniel in advance… and creatively at that.

Some covert plotting against said archaeologist would, if nothing else distract her mind for a precious moment until she found something to do. The last few days had seen her do, re-do, rip apart and do again anything she could set hands on and now she was relatively redundant. As she began to formulate Operation DustJackson her phone rang and she jumped a little. Shaking her head at herself she reached for the receiver.

"Carter."

"Colonel, its Siler…" he faltered a little and Sam sighed. _What now?_ "Ah, we're having a little technical problem up here, could you lend your assistance for a few minutes?"

"We?" She couldn't help that coming out.

A silent, nervous pause then, "The General and I."

_Not exactly the distraction I was looking for,_ she thought.

"Two minutes." She hung up and hopped off her seat heading to the General's office, hoping he would feel the need to leave before she got there and all she'd have to deal with was an edgy Siler.

* * *

As Sam neared Jack's office she spotted Siler almost levitating with anxiety in the hallway. She rolled her eyes and knew if she wasn't so averse to even being close to Jack right now, she'd berate him for damaging Siler's wellbeing. He was a walking bundle of nerves and she knew he probably had due motive to be.

"Colonel Carter!" He exclaimed her name with an absurd relief that made her wonder if he'd cry. She eyed him warily as he rushed to her. "It's his computer," he choked out. Carter nodded an 'ah'. She could handle a computer, even his. Siler would normally have been able to sort out the General's computer problems but as she studied him she feared his frayed nerves wouldn't allow much functionality in the vicinity of their cause. She moved to the door and as her hand hovered over the doorknob she felt Siler's hand gripping her arm. "I'm not sure…" he almost whispered, glancing about fretfully. "But I think his keyboard may be broken." She closed her eyes in answer and he scurried off with haste. Sam wished she could do the same.

_Please don't let him be in here, please don't let him be in here,_ she repeated like a mantra, eyes clasped shut as if it was a silent, reverent prayer. She felt the cold metal of the door handle against her skin and turned it.

"Ah for cryin' out loud!"

_Damn,_ she cursed, grimacing as she pushed open the door. She straightened her back and strode in confidently and anything but what she felt. His eyes which were burning holes in the monitor blinked to the intrusion.

"Carter," he said gruffly, still miffed with the computer.

"Sir," she greeted him, standing tall with her hands clasped behind her back. "Siler said you were having problems."

His eyes narrowed at her words and she realised she should quickly amend. "Technical problems." He cleared his throat and regarded her for a silent moment, thinking.

"This damn doohickey won't work!" He yelled, returning his attention and thankfully his frustration, to the computer. "I've tried everything!"

Carter wanted for all the world to say that machines don't respond to violence, and in normal circumstances she wouldn't have hesitated, if only to hear his retort and perhaps catch a glimpse of that smile. Instead, she bit her lip, reproaching herself for her thoughts and circled his desk to asses just what the General had tried and the damage he had inflicted in the process.

Expecting him to move, she stepped behind his seat and waited a moment. He didn't budge. She rolled her eyes; there was no way she was asking him to. She could be just as stubborn. She saw his hand rise and supposed he was about to strike the keyboard again. She quickly leaned over his right, blocking his target seeking arm. She reached for the keyboard and tapped it, looking at the screen.

It was frozen – a blank white screen. "What were you doing?" She asked casually, hoping it would help her fix it.

"I didn't do anything wrong if that's what you're saying!" He countered. Her eyes shot to him, with a furrowed brow. He could be such a baby sometimes.

"I wouldn't even suggest it, sir." The muscles in his face flinched, just slightly but she noticed it in her close proximity. Maybe she shouldn't have said that so insolently, not today anyway. Her eyes went back to the screen swiftly. He said nothing.

She tapped on the ctrl, alt and delete keys. Task Manager popped up. So he hadn't managed to break the keyboard. She skimmed through the applications. Only three. Two Office documents and … something else. Jack glanced distractedly over her shoulder, raising an eyebrow.

_Thirty Goddamn seconds and she's got something up! I've been bashing the stupid thing for two hours, _he complained silently

"Battle Run, sir?"

_Oh crap…_

"Huh?"

Carter leaned back from the screen to look at him. His eyebrows shot up and down quickly and he stared innocently at her, tilting his head when she continued to watch him. His lips twitched with a smile.

"It's a game, isn't it?" He scratched his cheek and turned his head. "Sir, I thought we weren't allowed to install gaming software on computers for many reasons the least of which security … I mean if someone managed to plant a virus on-"

"Ah! Ah! Ah!" Jack shouted, flailing his arms about, imploring her to stop with the babble. "Don't make my ears bleed, Colonel."

Her lips parted as if she would argue but she seemed to decide against it and instead stood upright. He could feel her shiny blue eyes judging him in her head how he would never let her aloud.

"I got bored, Carter! So sue me," he grumbled and she went back busying herself with the temperamental pile of junk he was pressed to call his computer. Sometimes he questioned if maybe the Colonel hadn't 'Cartered' it, for it certainly didn't like him very much recently. He glanced at her briefly. Mutiny. That's what she was up to, the computer, Daniel, Teal'c … maybe even Siler all in on it and she was leading it all! He rolled his eyes.

_Too much of the game, old boy,_ he said to himself. It was a simple shoot the bad guys, save the world and get the girl kinda game – manipulating lines of technowhatsit stuff to do what he had once done for real. He glanced at Carter again who had gotten movement out of the mass of bolts before her. Well, two out of three wasn't bad, right?

"It should be fine now; I've removed the game, sir." He gawped at her as she gave him access to the computer. She shrugged. "It would probably cause the problem persistently and I'm sure you don't need endless interruptions to fix it."

_Or you continually coming to fix it_, he added mentally.

"Fine," he said, huffed as she made her way around the desk again.

"If that's all, sir?" She asked, standing before him again. He noticed she wouldn't meet his eyes and he felt a pang of guilt at it. He shouldn't be treating her so frostily. It wasn't right, it didn't feel right and yet he found he could react no other way recently.

"Daniel mention cake to you?" Her eyes darted from the floor and she hesitated a moment then smiled and nodded gently. "Right. It had better be a good one, Colonel."

"Yes, sir."

"Lots of frosting!"

"Yes, sir."

Her smile dared to grow a little as he regarded her with something other than a wish to look anywhere but at her for the first time in a long time.

"Dismissed."

* * *

My muse is protesting at being pushed so quickly … it's a demanding little thing. I don't want to mess this up and I have a few days of partying ahead so it may take a little while before the next one. As always I'm all for feedback! 


	3. Inescapable: Chapter 3

Inescapable: Chapter 3

AN: Disclaimer and all in Chapter 1. My brain sways from too much whiskey … so please forgive anything you don't like.

* * *

"What are you doing here?"

Daniel grinned at Jack's grouchy face as he opened his door to him. Daniel shrugged, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"We …" he motioned to Teal'c sitting in the car outside Jack's house. "Thought we'd save you the bother of driving."

"Uhuh," Jack said reaching for something behind the door and stepping outside with Daniel. Daniel soundlessly moved out of his way and turned towards the car with a sly smile as Jack locked up. "Afraid I'd forget the way to Carter's?" He asked with a bite in his tone.

Daniel raised an eyebrow as they hopped into the car. "I know how selective your memory is at times."

"Easy, Daniel," Jack warned, looking in the rear-view mirror giving Daniel a glare. Daniel ignored him. Still burning holes in Daniel's reflection, Jack caught sight of a pink box in the back seat. He turned his head over his shoulder to get a better look. "What's that?"

Daniel sighed. "Cake, Jack."

"Excellent!" Jack exclaimed, turning his attention back to the road and briefly forgetting his foul mood for just a second. "Thought Carter was dealing with that." He heard Daniel sigh and didn't need to look in the mirror to know he was rolling his eyes.

"_You_ thought, Jack," Daniel said with exasperation. "_We_ thought it'd be nice if she didn't have to arrange a cake for her own party." Jack's shoulders shot up in indifference.

"She promised me frosting," he said simply. "Lots."

Daniel stared hard at the back of Jack's head as Teal'c offered him a quick eyebrow. _I hope this is worth it,_ Daniel thought.

* * *

"Foods great, Sam," Daniel told her as he shoved another bite of his burger into his mouth. She smiled as she squirted ketchup onto her own burger. She had gotten the food for a BBQ that she and Pete were supposed to have last weekend but she'd ended up working and had forgotten about it. A curse from just inside her kitchen caught both their attention. Jack was swiping at beer he had spilled down his chest while opening it and was frowning as his head whipped around in search of something to dry himself with. Teal'c stood beside him, mildly amused.

"He doesn't seem to be enjoying himself," Sam said quietly, her eyes looking out over her garden, checking again that she had turned the BBQ off.

"When does he ever?" Daniel replied brushing crumbs from his now empty hands. "Besides, he hasn't got cake yet."

Sam laughed lightly and set her burger down, she didn't really want it anyway and cake sounded much better. Jack had been surprisingly quiet since he'd arrived and what was even more surprising was that he was trying his best to appear cheerful. She supposed it wouldn't last much longer.

"Well this just gets better and better," Jack muttered but in the silence surrounding, they all heard it. He didn't notice, still wiping beer off his fingers. "Carter – did you shake all of these beers up or just mine?" He shouted in annoyance as he gave up looking for a cloth. Sam's eyes darted to him. Her eyes only twitched at the nuisance on his face. She looked away quickly and decided to pretend she hadn't heard him.

"I'll get the cake," Sam announced and scurried off to get it.

Jack grimaced as she shuffled past him, purposefully not meeting his eyes. _You're a real ass, you know that?_ He berated himself.

"Nice one, Jack," Daniel hissed under his breath as he followed Sam inside with urgency. Whether or not he'd meant Jack to hear him, he did.

_For cryin' out loud!_

"Sam?"

Daniel approached her slowly as she stood with her back to him at the bench, her hands on the edge of it, bracing herself. He noticed the cake was over beside the fridge, on the other side of the room.

"Sam?"

"This was a bad idea, Daniel," she called over her shoulder, not turning around.

"He's just being Jack, Sam," he offered with a sigh. "Nothing we're not used to."

"So … where's the cake?"

Sam flinched but refused to turn around. Daniel however, spun around to glare at Jack. Jack pocketed his hands and tilted his head a little, wearing an expression that said '_I know_'.

"Teal'c's wondering if you're gonna eat that hotdog, Daniel." Jack stared hard at Daniel then glanced to Carter. Daniel watched him a moment, following his eyes, then started to walk outside, throwing Jack a reproaching stare as he did.

"Soo…" Jack said, pacing around the kitchen.

"I'll bring the cake out in a minute," Carter said crisply, starting to busy herself with getting it prepared.

"I didn't come for the cake." A muffled laugh of indignation came from her lips as she began to cut the cake. "Carter," Jack called gently for her attention. She ignored him. He sighed, pulling his hands out of his pockets and walked towards her. "Sam?"

He wasn't sure if it was his use of her name or the hand that almost wasn't gripping her elbow, but she turned with a jolt. Her sapphire eyes sparkled at him and he somehow found it painful to keep looking into them. His hand dropped and he backed off her a little, gazing at the ground.

"I'm sorry," he whispered awkwardly after seconds of charged silence.

"For what?" She asked, seemingly unaffected.

His eyes slid up briefly. "You know." She raised an eyebrow at him, demanding he continue. When he didn't she shook her head in frustration and turned around again.

"All right!" Jack yelled. She turned slowly, hands on her hips. "I'm being an ass," he admitted grudgingly. She remained simply staring at him, intrigued. Jack sighed and scratched his head. "I know I haven't been the most pleasant of people to be around lately." Her eyebrows flew up and sarcasm flooded silently into her features. He narrowed his eyes momentarily at her then shook it from his thoughts. "Or even at the best of times but I guess recently… I've been touchier than Daniel without caffeine."

_Aha! A smile… ish._

"You know how I hate parties, Carter." _Or at least ones that involve you, another man and especially a ring_, he added to himself. "Unless there are scantily clothed women and a chunk full of money in my…" Her gaze told him he should stop, right now. He winced; thissort of humour wasn't going to cut it, not this time. No easy way out.

_Damn._

A shrill tone from the garden made them both jump slightly and stretch their gazes to the door. A moment of intent listening alerted Carter to the fact it was her cell phone. The noise stopped abruptly. She didn't care. She returned her eyes to Jack and he looked away instantly, uncomfortably.

"I know, sir. It's fine."

But it wasn't, they knew it and they both knew there was more to it than him hating parties. Jack chewed on the inside of his mouth. Carter deserved more. Hadn't he said that to Daniel a few days ago? Hadn't he meant it?

"No…" he breathed, moving over to her again, noticing her uneasiness the closer he got. "It's not," he breathed, finally resting just before her. She gazed, somewhat startled, at him. "We both know my mood has nothing to do with parties and more to do with a particular woman than several scantily clad ones."

"Sir-"

His hand flew up and waved at her. "Carter." She silenced, exhaling in what she could only decide was shock. "I need you to be happy," he told her, his eyes not asking but commanding she look at him. "That's all."

His eyes seemed to get blacker the longer she stared into them. Her lips parted, unsure of what to say… of what he was saying. He rushed a grimace, obviously waiting for her to respond. She felt the need to alleviate his worries. _Tell him you're happy_, she prompted her vocal cords. _With Pete,_ an afterthought. She moistened her lips as if she would speak.

"It's taken me a while, but I've figured it out and I promise to stop being such a pain in the ass," he jumped in before her, suddenly not wanting to hear what she would say.

She nodded and cast her eyes away. He didn't want to tell her he had spent his days of 'resident-pain-in-the-ass' not as someone who was concerned for her happiness but someone who was being destroyed because of it. And now he realised he was just going to have to suck it all up. He needed her. Even with a fiancée in tow and she didn't need this. There was nothing else to it, it didn't matter that he loved her, or that it hurt like hell to finally realise he could never so much as tell her that.

Carter thought she knew what he was saying and yet... something wasn't ... fitting.

"Sir, I…" she faltered, her voice weaker than she had expected. His brow furrowed at her and she swallowed, hard. God, what did she want to say? Whatever was playing on her tongue wasn't too damn sure it should be unleashed. "I-"

"Hey!"

Their heads whisked around and Jack coughed when he saw Pete in the doorway, Daniel bobbing behind him. Tension seemed to engulf them, bouncing like raw energy off the three of them and crackling in the deafening silence, unable to settle.

"Pete," she croaked. His eyes flashed so quickly she wasn't sure she saw it, then, "Got away early. I called…" he paused to wrap his arm around her waist and plant a kiss on her cheek. "Daniel said there was a party."

As Sam thawed a little, Jack's eyes found Daniel watching him intently, a smile playing in his eyes that was tickling its way down to his lips. Jack made a mental note to kill him later.

"Did I miss anything?" Pete asked and Daniel stepped forward with an arm stretched out.

"Ah… I saved you some grub," Daniel motioned and Pete, reluctantly, with a glance at Sam and a badly hidden one at Jack, followed the plotting archaeologist outside. Their sudden absence left plenty of room for a merciless silence to return. Jack shifted on his feet, hands in pockets, blinking at Sam and half hoping she would finish the sentence Pete had interrupted.

She opened her mouth, "Cake?" She had finally succumbed to the discomfiture of being underneath his intense eyes and borrowed a tactic of his own to divert from the tense situation.

"Oh yes!" He exclaimed rubbing his hands together in glee, gladly taking the out she presented.

"You did not inform the Colonel that PeteShannahan called," Teal'c observed as he watched the way Daniel was paying avid attention to O'Neill and Carter.

Daniel was mauling a particularly large piece of cake and beaming at the light mood that his two friends were sharing. The only inclination that he had heard Teal'c was a brief eyebrow shooting up and down again.

Whatever Jack had said – in what Daniel could only assume was a makeshift apology – had broken down the wall that he had erected between himself and Sam. Daniel wasn't the only one to notice something distinctive between the two soldiers, as Pete re-entered the room with a plate of cake Daniel fought to hold back a smirk as Pete's eyes drifted to the pair who were conversing rather comfortably across the room. Comfortably wasn't a word Pete might have used given the option to describe it and Daniel did feel a pang of guilt as he saw anxiety worm it's way into his eyes while he took a seat beside Daniel.

Daniel heard Sam laugh and glanced across to her again. "Fresh air cannot make your brain sting, sir."

"Can so!"

"'Fraid not," she shook her head, laughing and poking at her cake with a fork.

"Carter, I don't like knowing you're wrong, most of the time it would make me nervous but I'm telling you – you're wrong!"

"When have you ever _known_ I was wrong?" She leaned her head to look at him expectantly with a grin plastered on her face. His mouth opened and she could almost _see_ him thinking. He cleared his throat and scowled at her, muttering something under his breath that only served to make her laugh.

"I don't know why you like these…" Jack grumbled, stabbing one of the letters that had fallen from his icing and lifting it onto his fork. He raised an eyebrow and her plate was beside his immediately as he shook the offending sugary thing off onto her plate and she scraped off the icing from around her sponge cake onto his plate, swapping him.

"Much better than the icing," Carter said absently as she pulled her plate back to indulge.

His mouth was full but that didn't stop him from disagreeing. "Sooo wrong, Carter," he drawled, his tongue tackling with the mouthful of cake, shaking his head at her.

Carter bowed her head and laughed softly, back to enjoying her own cake, the way she liked it.

Daniel glanced at Teal'c who already had his eyebrow in its customary position in moments like this. They had seen this scene many times before. Since the first time the team had shared cake, Jack and Sam always did this and now after so long it was mostly just habitual but a lot of the time seeing it made something stir inside Daniel and as he eyed Pete, something was definitely stirring inside him.

* * *

No idea where this is going... should be fun. Feedback? 


	4. Inescapable: Chapter 4

Inescapable: Chapter 4

AN: Disclaimer and all in Chapter 1.

* * *

"Have a good night?" 

Sam turned from the light of the open refrigerator to see Jack smiling as he set a plate carefully into the sink.

Nodding she said, "It's not over yet, sir." His eyebrow quirked as she dug her head into the fridge again. "Although I'm afraid the food is." She shut the door, swivelling on her feet and grinning at him. "You guys have eaten me out of house and home."

"We can get more food," Jack suggested. She was already agreeing.

"Daniel's asleep and I don't trust Teal'c's taste buds. I'll get my keys."

"I'll go," Jack reached out and caught her arm. "You sit back and relax, crack open another beer. I'll get some videos…" He winced as something occurred to him.

"What?" She asked worried.

"Well, I've had a few beers…" Her mouth slowly formed an 'oh' shape.

"I can drive you."

Neither had noticed Pete entering the kitchen. Jack idly thought that awkward moments like this were the sort that his drunken-dirt-digger had his gritty little paws involved in. However, Daniel was currently passed out, sprawled half on-half off the couch. He made his very best effort not to make a face at the prospect of him, Pete and close proximity. He glanced to Sam with a plea in his eyes.

Sam swallowed, her eyes dividing short glances between the two men, hopefully not lingering long enough on either for them to notice. This couldn't be a good plan. What was Pete playing at? Or for that matter, did he have any idea there was a game going on at all? Sam frowned, since when had this become a game? There wasn't much she could say, except of course that it wasn't necessary for two people to go. That, however, would look a tad too suspicious. _Pete, can you bunk off to the video store so I can be alone with Jack?_ She cleared her throat quietly.

"I'll get you some money," she said to Jack and before she headed to get it she saw his eyes grow like saucers and his mouth fall ajar.

_Oh, Danny is gonna be soooo sorry he missed this,_ Jack exclaimed thoughtfully.

Sam appeared again, hand outstretched with money for Jack. He took it, staring at her eyes, praying that some emergency would pop up right now and he'd have to rush back to the SGC. Or at the very least if he could disappear for a few minutes to arrange one.

_I wonder if Ba'al is busy tonight…_

"Get something I'll like for a change, sir!" Sam called as Jack followed Pete ruffling his hair and resisting the urge to pinch himself as he did.

* * *

"Nice ride," Jack said. 

"Thanks."

Jack watched the man driving a moment, lifted his eyebrows, widening his eyes briefly and tightening the muscles in his cheeks. Pete wasn't much of a talker. _More of a stalker._ Jack made a gruff noise in the back of his throat and noticed Pete side-glanced at him.

Suddenly they were slowing and Jack watched as Pete shifted gears and braked. The car slid to a more abrupt stop than was necessary. Before Jack's head had bounced back onto the headrest from the motion, Pete was out of the car and all Jack saw was the door slamming. He rolled his eyes as he pawed the money Carter had given him in his pocket, noticing they were outside a grocery store.

Pete was pulling at the door again as Jack fiddled with the radio controls, feeling perturbed by the silence. An advertisement for some fast food filled the car as Pete jumped inside, throwing a grocery bag in the back seat. When they were driving again Jack decided the conversation had to start before he opened his door and jumped out, moving car or not! He took a slow breath and was about to start when a song on the radio made him pause and smile.

'_There's still a little bit of your song in my ear,  
There's still a little bit of your words I long to hear,  
You step a little closer to me,  
So close that I can't see what's going on,'_

"Carter loves this song." Pete's eyes darted to him and his brow had the slightest furrow in it.

Jack wet his lips and they quirked as the song went on. He remembered having a playful fight with her one day while he was … well annoying her in her lab. He had been sooooo bored that day…

"_Please, put that down, sir." He hadn't realised she'd noticed he was playing with one of her doohickeys … it looked like a… like a... hell, he didn't even have a comparison for it. He rolled his eyes and set it back down. Carter was hunched over her laptop, engrossed in whatever she was figuring out that day – another secret of the universe most likely. He frowned at her and shoved his hands in his pockets, if anything to keep them from getting him into trouble. He hated to be living proof that the Devil made work for idle hands._

"_Lunch, Carter?"_

"_I already said I haven't got time." He threw up his eyebrows when she didn't even raise her head._

"_No, you said you were busy."_

"_I am."_

"_So am I."_

_She laughed and her eyes lifted to find him a moment and then back down._

"_Are not," she countered._

"_Am so!"_

_She was shaking her head with a faint smile and tapping at her keyboard again. He watched her for a precious second, revelling in the way wisps of her blonde hair got finely tangled in her long eyelashes. He took a deep breath; too much of this kind of study could get him into trouble. He walked to the back of her lab, wondering what he could amuse himself with. He found a radio and grinned. Brushing a little dust off it he turned it on. A female voice screaming, **'Leave! Get out!'** boomed through the lab making Carter jump in fright. _

_**Oh, the irony**, he thought. _

"_Yipes!" He pulled a face of disgust and changed the frequency. He could hear Carter sighing in exasperation behind him. "Kids these days, Colonel."_

"_Yes, sir," Carter said evenly. "Kids." He turned his head at her tone with a scowl on his face. She was already ignoring him again. Jack huffed, he was so bored and he wasn't even able to encourage a fight out of her yet! He was loosing his touch. He found another station._

'…**_laced with my doubt,  
It's still a little hard to say what's going on…"_**

_Jack turned the station again and he heard a strange yelping protest behind him. "Put that back – I love that song!"_

"_What?"_

"_Sir! Put it back," she demanded._

"_Carter…"_

"_It's my radio."_

"_I turned it on."_

"_C'mon…" He damned her and those eyes. He could never say no to them. _

And it was because of her that he was here, in a car with a man that he resented more than any person could resent someone. The song brought him back out of his thoughts again.

'_Stones taught me to fly  
Love, it taught me to lie  
Life taught me to die…'_

"Didn't know that," Pete said without much of a tone in his voice at all that it sounded… wrong. Jack squinted at him and feeling Jack's eyes, Pete looked towards him. The song filled the air again.

'_So come on courage,  
Teach me to be shy  
'Cause it's not hard to fall  
And I don't wanna scare her  
It's not hard to fall,  
And I don't wanna lose  
It's not hard to grow  
When you know that you just don't know'_

A horrible silence came as adverts buzzed through the speakers and again, Jack found himself speaking.

"Something else you might not know," Jack began, piquing Pete's interest. "Carter likes chick flicks." His companion seemed surprised. "I guess when you bust butt all day and you're a woman you like something a little different in your movies." Pete had gone quiet again and was watching the road a little too intently. Jack was beginning to wonder if the video store was on another planet or if Pete just wanted to drive somewhere very remote to shoot him. "Anyway… she's a sucker for tacky ice-skating movies and the like so we should get-"

"You seem to know a hell of a lot about her, _Jack_." Jack's only response was a pointedly raised eyebrow. _That took longer than expected, _Jack thought.

"Look … Pete," Jack grimaced, a foul taste in his mouth already. Jack's eyes couldn't help searching for a gun as the car stopped. He glanced outside and saw a busy enough street. Surely Pete wasn't crazy enough to shoot him somewhere this public? "I know what you're gonna say…"

"You're in love with her."

Jack blinked. He parted his lips and raised his hand with a finger pointing nowhere in particular and with a flick of his wrist he said, "Nope – didn't know you'd say that."

"Don't deny it," Pete said with a sigh. Jack remained silent, stretching his jaw and rustling his fingernails through his stubble. "Anyone would have to be insane not to notice the way you look at her."

"Ah…" Jack screwed his face up, that wasn't something he wanted to hear.

"Just…" Pete reached for the door again, opening it and pausing with his back to Jack and one foot on the footpath. "Let her go."

The door closed with a clang and Jack's heart felt a piercing pain as he realised Pete was right. He'd have to let her go, for real.

* * *


	5. Inescapable: Chapter 5

Inescapable: Chapter 5

AN: Disclaimer and all in Chapter 1. Okay, watched Threads last night. I think I nearly had a nervous breakdown – especially because I had to leave right after the scene at Jack's house with Whatsherface CIA. I was not in a good mood, especially with the person who dragged me away. Anyways, my ickle muse had some violent reactions to it…so did my mouth come to think of it. Then I came home and watched the rest (well most of it anyway, some muppet switched the video channel in the scene in Jack's office talking to Whatsherface.) Still, my little heart races! Eight years waiting for that ep and everything has to go wrong when it's being aired.

Anyway, I digress. The last chapter got some… er… heated reviews about the S/J and general Pete-hating situation. Relax people! I have a lot of ideas pent up in my vexing little muse and there's a lot of stuff to iron out yet. So, on with the show, kids!

* * *

"Jack..."

Jack heard a groan beside him that sounded something like his name. He was slouching on Carter's couch, watching television through a haze of alcohol. Nice. He looked down at his lap and saw a beer bottle in his hand and he twisted his mouth in indecision. He really wanted a drink of the sweet nectar, but he'd had so much already that his hand wasn't going to respond to anything less than a great effort.

_Effort be damned! I'll just go to sleep, _he thought and his lazy lids slipped shut.

"Jack."

The groan had turned into a muffled whisper and Jack opened one eye, sliding it to his left.

"What, Daniel?" Jack really wished he had the energy… or the faculty to snap at him.

Daniel was gripping his head and pulling his glasses off; lying slouched in an almost mirrored position to Jack on the other end of the couch.

"What…" Daniel's brain was also having trouble functioning and Jack smiled behind his closed lids.

"Still in Carter's. Teal'c in spare room, you unconsciously elected the couch and I got other room…" Jack explained sleepily, realising Daniel's confusion.

Another groan, then, "Head…" Daniel complained.

"Here," Jack said half awake now but still horribly drunk. Daniel blinked across and squinted. Jack was handing him a bottle… or something. "Cure." Daniel yawned and ignored Jack. Idly, he registered a soft thud. As Jack fought between going back to sleep or finding the remote and Daniel massaged his temples, a beer bottle lay foaming out onto the carpet between their feet.

"What time is it?"

"Round 3 I think," Jack mumbled, taking another drink.

"If my bed is the couch, Jack, what are you doing in it?" Daniel asked, a little miffed when he realised he wanted to lie down and Jack was taking up half the couch.

"Watching TV."

Daniel pushed his glasses up his nose with a finger and regarded Jack. _Liar,_ he thought.

"You got the back room didn't you?" Daniel wondered, not really expecting an answer. Jack lifted his beer up in a gesture that confirmed Daniel's suspicions. The back room was the larger of the spare rooms and the nicest but it was also directly beside Sam's bedroom.

"Prefer the company down here," Jack muttered in between swigs of beer.

"I'm honoured," Daniel replied sarcastically and shifted to get comfortable amongst the cushions. "Did I miss anything?"

Jack snorted.

"Pete?" Daniel queried, a little more conscious now.

"Pete," Jack confirmed with loathing.

"Did you deck him?"

"Daniel!" Jack snapped, his body flinching with the exertion of it. Daniel shrugged and motioned with his hand for a beer. Jack tossed him one. "You really think I'd be here, getting wasted on Carter's couch if I'd K.O.'d her fiancée?" Daniel only lifted his eyebrows in a gesture that said he wouldn't be too surprised.

"I was hoping as much…" Daniel said under his breath as he opened the beer Jack gave him.

"Don't think he likes me very much."

"No surprise there."

"Not sure if that's a compliment or not, Danny so I'll choose to ignore it."

They sat in silence, watching the almost silent picture on the television as Jack grew sleepy again. Daniel glanced at him a few times, taking in his haggard appearance. He seemed to have aged a few years since he had seen him earlier and he wondered what had happened with Pete and what Sam thought of it all.

"Ja…"

"Ya think I took it too far, Daniel?" Jack's voice came from what Daniel had assumed was a sleeping man. Daniel frowned and Jack's eyes opened a tiny slither to peer over to him. "Carter." Daniel looked into his lap, wishing he had any idea what went on earlier so he could respond better. He eyed the beer in his hands and cursed his intolerance for it. Why did he always have to pass out? "Did I get too…?" Jack tailed off, either not wanting to say it or not knowing how to say it.

"Close?" Daniel offered. Jack closed his eyes again and grunted. "No, Jack," Daniel said firmly. "It's one of the best things about you – the more you like to conceal it in litres of sarcasm and jokes." Jack grunted again yet didn't open his eyes, something that Daniel, ironically, recognised as another way of detaching himself emotionally.

"Need to let her go…" Jack mumbled and Daniel could tell he was half asleep.

"What you need to do is get closer, Jack," Daniel told him with a sigh, knowing in Jack's state he would be safe enough with such a comment.

"Love her too much…" Jack whispered sluggishly. "… hurts."

Daniel sighed heavily as he realised Jack has fallen asleep. He took a long swig of his beer and threw the blanket that had been tossed over him earlier, over Jack, glancing sadly at him before he got up and headed for the room that Jack was supposed to be in.

* * *

Sorry it's so short – my mind is still reeling from last night. More soon, I promise. Oh and feedback? 


	6. Inescapable: Chapter 6

Inescapable: Chapter 6

AN: Disclaimer and all in Chapter 1. All righty kiddies, short again. Oh, forgot to say that the song in Chapter 4 was 'Cannonball' by Damien Rice. Sorry about that. And I apologise if I said anything about Threads last time - hope I didn't give anything away. This is hopefully a bit lighter than the last.

* * *

"Is your cranium well, DanielJackson?" 

Daniel looked up from his notes and looked at Teal'c in confusion. A moment, doing what he does best – translating Teal'c speak into English and he realised he was borrowing and morphing Jack's phrase 'how's the head?'

"Fine." Well, it was now. A day later. It had been touch and go for a while yesterday though.

"I am glad," Teal'c said with his eyebrow angled as he walked into Daniel's office.

Daniel sat back in his chair and decided he should use the Jaffa's impromptu visit to see if he could get any information on what had happened after he passed out at the party. Jack had been avoiding him since and Daniel wondered if he even remembered the conversation they had in the wee hours of the morning.

"So, what went on at the party after I coped out?" Daniel asked with an innocent smile. Teal'c's lips twitched.

"You wish to know what happened between O'Neil and PeteShannahan," Teal'c stated and Daniel looked back at him sheepishly. The eyebrow went up. "I have no knowledge of O'Neill's private exchange with him but I believe it had something to do with the argument he and Colonel Carter had later that night."

Daniel leaned forward with a tepid interest. "Jack argued with her again?"

"No, PeteShannahan and Colonel Carter."

"Oh," Daniel replied pensively. "What did they argue about?"

"O'Neill."

"Really?" Daniel tried to sound surprised. "And?" Teal'c tilted his head and his eyes seemed to be asking 'And?' in return. Daniel shook his head in frustration. "What did you hear?"

"I would not feel comfortable disclosing such private information about Colonel Carter's personal life."

"Teal'c!" Daniel shot out of his seat and muttered something about 'insufferable Jaffa morals' and headed for the door.

"Perhaps you should ask Colonel Carter herself," Teal'c suggested, turning to see Daniel just stop outside the door, scowling at him. Teal'c's dimples began to show as he grinned at Daniel. Daniel hurried away with a roll of his eyes.

* * *

"Jesus!" Jack roared, holding his nose as Daniel slammed into him around the corner. Too preoccupied with his own pain he didn't notice that the collision had sent Daniel sprawling ungraciously to the floor. 

"No, Jack," Daniel said with irritation, gritting his teeth at his own pain. "Just me." Daniel winced as he picked himself up.

Jack's eyes shot to Daniel from atop his cradled nose. He glared at Daniel, hard, not appreciating the joke. "Lost your Dust-Buster, Jackson?" Jack spat, now rubbing his nose and checking for blood. It was Daniel's turn to glare now.

"If you hadn't been avoiding me maybe this wouldn't have happened," Daniel retorted, rubbing his backside. Jack almost growled at him and Daniel threw his eyes up at the glare he was still receiving.

"I am not avoiding you." Jack said firmly, grinding out the words, daring Daniel to argue.

Of course, Daniel would _have _to argue. "Are too."

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am n- _Daniel_!"

Daniel flinched at Jack's shout and the way his body shook with anger. He flew an 'oh boy' eyebrow up, wondering exactly how fast he could run. Daniel watched Jack's eyes slip shut, tightly. His fists balled till his knuckles turned white and even though Daniel's brain was screaming insanely for his feet to carry him away, very, very far away, he found he could only stare in awe at how red Jack's face was getting. A low guttural sound started in Jack's belly and clawed its way up to his throat where it erupted in the most ear piercing, savage bellow Daniel had ever had the misfortune to hear – and he had heard Mariah Carey sing.

Jack held his particular ear-splitting note for longer than Daniel expected he could. Jack apparently had very fit and very large lungs. Suddenly Daniel fought the urge to chuckle. Best not to provoke him any further though. Maybe his death would be a quick one.

"Jack I…"

"Don't!" He pointed a stiff finger at Jackson. "Daniel," Jack took a slow, deliberate breath. "If I hear the words, Carter, Pete, engagement, denial, love or my feelings come out of your mouth in any way, form or matter - I will dismember you. _Slowly_."

Daniel nodded dumbly. Satisfied he had sufficiently shaken himself of his rock-duster's antics, Jack took a step to go before he really did harm the man.

His foot was hovering mid air, in his second step when he heard, "S-sir?"

"Oh for cryin' out loud!" Jack yelled, throwing his hands in the air and not needing to turn to know Carter was standing behind him with big doe eyes trained on his back. He set his foot down steadily and marched on. "Talk to the hand, Carter!" He called back defiantly as he retreated, waving a hand in the air above him as he did.

* * *

I know, nothing resolved yet… I like to turn a lot of corners when telling a story. Hehe. Feedback? 


	7. Inescapable: Chapter 7

Inescapable: Chapter 6

AN: Disclaimer and all in Chapter 1. Okie dokie, must apologise again for any spelling, grammar mistakes etc., unfortunately I'm no English expert, ironically I'm studying Information Technology and even after 4yrs of that I know very little about it, so please, try to have tolerance with my English skills! I had a fight with the email addresses in the quick editor so sorry they look so strange -i'm not used to this thing!

* * *

"You think maybe I should…" Carter suggested, pointing in the direction Jack had just escaped. 

Daniel's eyebrows rose slowly and his eyes grew. He leaned his head a little to the right. "I wouldn't advise it."

"Right," Sam said, nodding, still a little stunned.

"Did he say?"

"Yup."

"And you knew?"

"Uhuh."

"So..."

Daniel walked towards Sam and said, "Go do some thinking, Sam."

Carter arched an eyebrow and opened her mouth as Daniel walked on past her. She took a breath and closed her mouth abruptly as Daniel's footsteps grew quieter. So, she had heard what she thought she heard. Did it really mean what she thought and how did Daniel know? Was Jack O'Neill really in love with her… and for that matter, who was she truly in love with?

_Daniel's right, I have a looooot of thinking to do,_ she told herself as she strode off towards her lab.

* * *

Jack felt like screaming when he finally reached the comfort of his office. Today had been a _really_ bad day. He exhaled at length and stretched his legs out underneath his desk, crossing them and his ankles. A knock at the door, made anger tingle up his spine. Walter walked inside. 

"Sir, you have-"

"Walter?"

"Yes, sir?" Walter asked apprehensively.

Jack laced his fingers, leaning into the back of his seat and rested his hands on his lap. He inclined his head and pursed his lips, squinting beady eyes at the soldier standing nervously before him. He parted his lips and asked, "What does the sign on my door say?"

Walter frowned and answered, "General Jack O'Neill, sir."

Jack scowled at him and snapped his wrist at Walter. "The other sign, Sergeant," he clarified, thinking Walter was trying to be a smartass.

Walter looked helpless, now aware what the General had been referring to. It wasn't that he hadn't seen it, it was just he assumed it was a joke.

"Do not disturb, sir," Walter offered, speaking of the oddly shaped piece of card taped to the door that looked suspiciously like the remnants of a file folder. It had those words scribbled furiously in capital letters with a lot of unnecessary exclamation marks, all in Jack's handwriting.

"And would you say I'm disturbed?" Walter's lips quirked just slightly and Jack bolted upright with a finger trained on him. "Careful!" He warned. Walter cleared his throat.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, General, but you really need to read your emails - there are a few issues that need your attention." With a strained smile and a bow of the head, Walter turned and left.

"Issues," Jack grumbled into the silent room. "Does he not think I have enough already?" Jack relented and tapped his keyboard, bringing the screen to life and entering his inbox. He sighed when he saw a string of unread mails. He opened a blank document.

_If I can figure out a way to screw this heap of circuits up bad enough I can put this off for a while, _Jack thought, hitting random keys. His attention was drawn to the 'f' keys at the top of the keyboard - something weird always happened when he pushed them.

_Sweet, I'm getting better at this technojunk! All right, what'll it be, f12? _

An eyebrow shot up, and he danced his head, left to right, deciding.

_Too easy, f1? It does have a question mark on the key itself… could be interesting._

Jack hit it. An irritating noise reached his ears as the computer processed what he'd done. A moment of anticipation then the little paperclip guy, that he had spent days trying to get rid of, popped up in the corner, a speech bubble above his maddening little eyebrows. It asked: 'What would you like to do?'

He typed 'kill Daniel Jackson' in the field and pressed return. He grumbled in dissatisfaction as it returned a list that started with 'delete a file'.

_Nuts._

Just as he was about to press another 'f' button, he was alerted to a new mail. Daniel. Jack almost didn't want to read it, but it was a distraction so he went ahead and opened it.

**From: "Jackson, Daniel, Dr." spacemonkey(a)sgc.gov**

**To: "O'Neill, Jack, General," theman(a)sgc.gov**

**Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 16:01:45**

**Subject: Idle thoughts…**

**General,**

**Technically this isn't talking so your warning doesn't count momentarily. Nevertheless, I won't use the aforementioned words, just in case. In keeping with my new task - to update you on the gossip - I thought I should let you know of an argument between a genius, blonde, Colonel and a stubby cop. Word is the argument had some pining, grouchy General's… emotional opinion of said Colonel as the main topic. Anyone you know? Have a feeling Teal'c knows what went on but is being tight lipped about it.**

**Maybe my female team-mate could shed some light on it for me…**

**Have a nice day,**

**Daniel.**

Jack clenched his jaw as he finished reading and hit the button to reply while lifting his phone and hitting an extension. He held the phone between his ear and shoulder as he began to type.

**From: "O'Neill, Jack, General," theman(a)sgc.gov**

**To: "Jackson, Daniel, Dr." spacemonkey(a)sgc.gov**

**Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 16:04:21**

**Subject: Re: Idle thoughts…**

**Daniel,**

**I'll let you choose the first limb if you just keep your busy little ass in that lab. If you talk to Carter, I'll start with your tongue and make my way down.**

**And I do not pine!**

**Jack.**

"Teal'c. My office. Now."

* * *

I blame no sleep for this chapter... or lack thereof. 


	8. Inescapable: Chapter 8

Inescapable: Chapter 8

AN: Disclaimer and all in Chapter 1. Thanks for all the reviews of the last chapter; I was a little surprised at how much people liked it! But away from the mindless humour for a while…

* * *

"You wished to see me, O'Neill," Teal'c stated as he came to rest in front of Jack's desk. Jack's eyes slid up to him, pensively.

"Wished … yes," Jack said absently as he slowly sat straight in his seat. "Have a seat, T," Jack said, swiping a hand at the seat to Teal'c's left.

They eyebrow arched at the seat and Teal'c turned back to Jack, "I prefer to stand."

"I keep forgetting," Jack said flippantly with a forced smile.

Jack scratched his neck with anxiety. Did he really need to know what Carter had argued with Pete about? The answer was plainly, no. He didn't _need_ to know. He knew it was about him, he could've guessed that much though. What he wanted to know was had Pete disclosed the same information to Carter as he had to him - and what had Carter thought about it? The general release of his not-so-well-kept secret that he was in love with his 2IC, a release especially to her, wasn't bothering him as much as he'd originally expected. Jack O'Neill never was a hard man to read and at certain times along their journey, he had been almost transparent to Carter. She'd already had a good idea about how he felt towards her and he had known that, chose to ignore it 99 of the time, but knew it. What he didn't, hadn't and couldn't know, was exactly how she felt about that. There used to be something between them, it was unmistakable, but was it love- for his part, yes, but he was a daft, possibly crazy old man and she was a woman that half the men on base were most likely 'in love' with. No, his feelings didn't matter. Hers did. And recently, everything, especially a sparkling rock on her finger, pointed to the fact that he was not the man she loved.

"O'Neill?"

Jack's head shot up, he had been staring at his desk and the altitude of Teal'c's eyebrow told him he had been doing so for a while. He winced. This was one of his transparent moments again. He was kind of disappointed Carter wasn't around to interpret. Teal'c would have a good idea also though. He should just jump in, head first.

"What did he say to her?"

"I do not-"

"T, buddy," Jack waved a dismissive hand at him. "Throw an old dog a bone, eh?" He implored with eyes that even he knew were pathetic.

"A bone, O'Neill?"

"Oh for cryin' out loud…" Jack whispered, shaking his head. He rubbed his hands roughly over his face and dragged them gradually down his face, pulling at his skin. He took a breath, his hands still hovering over his mouth. "I need to know what Carter said."

Teal'c regarded Jack O'Neill closely. Perhaps it would be for the greater good if he told O'Neill. "Very well." He ignored the sigh of relief from across the room. "While I was preparing for rest the night of Colonel Carter's party, I heard raised voices from her room…"

"_Where is all this coming from, Pete? Why all the sudden questions about General O'Neill?"_

"_I'm just curious about your relationship."_

"_Relationship?"_

"_What else would you call it?_

"_Ah … friendship!"_

"_Sure."_

"_You're kidding me right? You think there's something going on between us?"_

"_I've seen the way you two interact… and how many awkward moments did I walk in on in just one evening, Sam?"_

"_We're close, and the awkwardness was just because we were having a disagreement."_

"_About?"_

"_What?"_

"_What were you 'disagreeing' about?"_

"… _Work."_

"_Right."_

"_Pete, you're being paranoid, there is nothing but a close friendship between General O'Neill and I."_

"_How come you never call him Jack?"_

"_What? What has that got to do with anything?"_

"_Just answer it."_

"_Because he's my CO."_

"_A CO you say you have a 'close friendship' with and you've never called him Jack?"_

"_I… probably, a few times… I don't know."_

"_When?"_

"_Pete!"_

"_You have feelings for him, Sam."_

"_Pete…"_

"_I thought it was just some sort of deep respect born out of the situations you've faced with him, with the team… the way you always talked about them. You always talked about Teal'c and Daniel so much more than him, with so much more openness and I thought it was a simple detachment of a CO and 2IC, some silly military thing."_

"_Stop..."_

"_Until I saw the way you look at him."_

"_There's nothing going on, Pete. I swear."_

"_That doesn't mean there's nothing there."_

"_I'm getting married to you, Pete."_

"_Yes, you are."_

"I did not hear much after that." Teal'c explained, lifting his jaw a little.

"I see," Jack said to no one in particular.

"I must request…"

"Yeah…" Jack nodded for him to leave, a littledazed at what he'd told him. He took a steadying breath as his head lulled back to rest on the top of the seat. Suddenly his head bolted upright.

_I have to talk to Carter…._

* * *

Jack suddenly found himself a few strides away from Carter's lab. He had strode very purposefully here and now he found himself within earshot of the twittering machines she spent days among and he was frozen. How many times had he strolled in there with the sole purpose of just distracting her? Or as she would put it, annoying her and amusing himself. It wasn't often he went in there with something specific to say, he wasn't a profound man. In fact, the last time he had come here with something of the like to say, he had injected humour to start it off. The humorous part hadn't lasted long, though. And hadn't it taken him two weeks to convince himself he should talk to her? What on earth had convinced him he could talk to her about _this_ right now?

He glanced at the open doorway again. If he hovered out here much longer, people were going to notice, or she would come out and catch him, cue uncomfortable sarcastic remark, a clumsy getaway and he'd be back in his office, banging his head off his desk. He took a brave step towards her lab.

"She's not in there, Jack."

Jack's head spun around to see Daniel propped up against a wall, arms folded and legs crossed, a half smile twitching on his lips.

"How long have you been there?" Jack snapped, walking towards him with a scowl on his face.

"Long enough," Daniel retorted with a shrug of his eyebrows as he left the support of the wall.

"Get my email, Daniel?" Jack asked with a snarl.

Daniel grinned. "Talked to Teal'c, Jack?"

Jack narrowed his eyes and sped past Daniel, retreating. Daniel shuffled his feet and hurried after him, trotting to catch up.

"Are you going to tell her?"

"Tell her who what?" Jack answered with a bite and Daniel sighed.

"Carter - that you're-"

"Where is Carter, Daniel?" Jack interrupted him as fast as he could, trying to ignore the fact he had begun speaking at all and that his question was just a random wondering.

"She sent me an email, asked if I'd cover for her for a while."

Jack's feet stopped and Daniel ended up a few feet ahead of him, turning with a raised eyebrow.

"Cover for what?"

"The fact that she's gone."

"Gone?" Jack questioned with a quick jostle of his head. He was pissed, with Daniel, with Carter, with everything.

"Off base," Daniel offered easily. Too easily for Jack's liking. He began walking again. "She didn't think you'd notice." Daniel added, glancing out of the corner of his eye for Jack's reaction. He smirked inwardly as he saw Jack's eyebrows fly up.

"_She didn't think I'd notice_?" Jack reiterated pointedly, incredulous.

Daniel shrugged, agreeing with Carter's assumption. "You _have_ been avoiding her like a plague."

"Maybe like a mild flu," Jack suggested. Daniel flashed a small smile. "Anyway I thought it was you I was avoiding."

"I thought you weren't avoiding me."

"I avoid you whenever it's possible, Daniel."

"I'm beginning to realise…" Daniel muttered to himself.

"Speaking of which…" Jack moved to turn a corner and escape Daniel. Daniel reacted and his hand flew out and caught a hold of Jack's BDU'S causing Jack to stumble back, cursing.

"Maybe you should take a few hours off too, Jack," Daniel said, looking directly at Jack's murderous eyes.

"I have a lot of paperwork to do, Daniel." Jack growled, shrugging himself free of Daniel and storming away.

"It's not going to go away, Jack. Not until you do something about it," Daniel called after him. Jack treaded on, flicking a dismissive hand back at Daniel. Daniel bounced onto his tiptoes as if it would carry his voice further. "It's inescapable, Jack!"

* * *

Hope you're still enjoying - feedback? 


	9. Inescapable: Chapter 9

Inescapable: Chapter 9

AN: Disclaimer and all in Chapter 1. I'm suffering from a little indecision as to where I'm truly going with this, so sorry if I keep it brief for a moment. As always, the reviews of the last chapter were appreciated greatly.

* * *

"… so I think that it would be a fantastic opportunity, I mean who knows what we might find reference to…Jack? Jack?"

"Hmm?"

Jack phased back into reality and frowned when he saw Daniel gazing at him with a patronising expression.

"You weren't listening," Daniel accused. Despite Jack's personal problems and Daniel's desire to meddle in them, the artefacts SG-7 had discovered on their recent mission were important. Jack lifted his eyebrows and looked at the file on his desk, tapping the pen he'd forgotten he had in his hand, on the paper.

"Hard to believe," he quipped, without looking up. He heard Daniel sigh and his brow furrowed, trying to remember what Daniel had been babbling about before he zoned out.

"Are you going to approve the mission or not?" Daniel asked impatiently, ignoring his sarcastic remark.

"Rocks, Daniel," Jack said superciliously, his eyelids wrinkling as he looked up at Daniel with squinted, brown eyes that were still only half in the room.

"Ancient artefacts, Jack," Daniel corrected with a restrained tone, shifting onto one leg and twisting his fingers into a gesture Jack took to say 'my patience is wearing thin'.

He couldn't care less - about Daniel's patience or the rocks, or the mission, so he said with exaggerated exasperation, "Do whatever you want, Daniel!"

Daniel licked his lips, a little taken aback. "Trust me, you wouldn't like it if I did," he warned Jack, now particularly pissed off with his friend's behaviour.

Jack rolled his eyes and looked away from Daniel's judging eyes.

"Take SG-12," Jack mumbled quietly, lifting pages in front of him, turning them and pretending to be interested in their contents. Ideally, he would send SG-1, if only to get them, especially Carter, as far away from him as possible, but she still wasn't back. After a few seconds of silence, he could sense Daniel was about to speak. He paused what he was doing to dismiss him before he did. When he raised his head, a knock interrupted them. "Come in," he barked instead, ignoring Daniel's hard eyes boring holes in him and training his eyes on the door.

Walter walked in, hesitating a moment when he saw Daniel and was slammed by the tension. He threw glances between the both of them, and then told Jack, "The agent from the C.I.A called, sir. She'd like to speak to you before she arrives." Jack nodded as Walter took a few tentative steps and handed him a piece of paper with a phone number on it, then left in a hurry, glancing sympathetically at Daniel as he did.

Daniel resisted the urge to throw his eyes up to heaven. "Call her, Jack."

Jack fiddled with the slip of crisp paper as he met Daniel's eyes briefly before he turned and left. Somehow, Jack didn't think Daniel was referring to the C.I.A. agent. He sighed and reached for the receiver, setting the paper down beside the phone.

* * *

So short and most definitely not sweet! Hehe… 


	10. Inescapable: Chapter 10

Inescapable: Chapter 10

AN: Disclaimer and all in Chapter 1. Sorry this took so long, I had a busy two weeks. Ever heard of rag week in college? If not, it's probably best! Anyway, I hope you haven't forgotten what the story was about! I'm borrowing the name of a character that appears in Threads for this snippet, but nothing more really. So tiny spoilers.

* * *

Sam felt emotions raging inside her as she stood in her bedroom, collecting herself. Several things were tearing at her insides, in a tug of war that was making her nauseous and she felt something at the back of her throat as she dared to glance at the reason she had come into her bedroom in the first place. It lay there, still, immobile and taunting her. Rays of sunlight bounced off it and suddenly its beauty was making her eyes hurt. She swallowed and a shaky hand, tentatively reached out for it. Her hand stopped as it hovered above it, her fingers twitching in the air. Her stomach convulsed and she bit back at the rising bile.

She was not afraid, she vowed. This was what she wanted. This was her future and she would be damned if she'd be afraid of it when she wasn't afraid of the Goa'uld and the likes. Her fingers gripped the shiny object and she curled her fist around it, straightening her back and marching out of the room.

"I was beginning to think you'd jumped out the window or something," Pete teased as she entered her living room. She smiled at him and sat down beside him, tossing the precious gold metal in her palm.

* * *

Jack glanced down to his stomach again. It had been making discontented noises for a while now but he had ignored the hunger because he didn't want to leave the sanctuary of his office. It growled again and he swallowed at it, offering his phone a glance. He could always ring for someone to bring him food. His insides twisted in more than one way at that thought and with a sigh he resigned himself to going to the commissary. It was well after lunch, there shouldn't be anyone he wouldn't want to run into there at this late stage. He pushed himself out of his seat and headed out; casting his eyes up to the ceiling and praying that he could get through this without shouting at someone.

The commissary was fairly quiet when he got there, unfortunately the best of the food was also gone and it only made his mood worse. He was attacking what was supposed to be chicken with his knife and he wondered idly if there weren't more than artefacts brought back from missions. As he was about to test whether or not it tasted like chicken he caught sight of movement in the corner of his eye and withrestrained exasperation, the bite of food fell to the plate again. Jack bowed his head and wished for self control, or a least a little shred of remaining sanity to surface.

"Missed you at lunch," Daniel said from the end of his table.

Jack refused to look at him, paying attention to his plate and wiping at his nose distractedly. "Busy."

"Yeah," Daniel replied with just a hint of sarcasm.

"I thought I approved you for a mission, Daniel," Jack said matter-of-factly, noticing Daniel was taking a seat across from him.

"You haven't briefed the team," Daniel threw back as if he was taking to a child. Jack's eyes flew to him as he pushed a forkful of food into his mouth.

"Consider yourself briefed," he mumbled between chewing. Daniel closed his eyes and shook his head at Jack.

"Did you call her?" Jack stopped chewing, swallowed, glanced briefly at Daniel and dropped his eyes awkwardly.

"Yeah." Daniel's mouth, although Jack didn't see, made and 'oh' shape. He actually hadn't thought Jack would actually take his advice.

"What happened?"

Jack shrugged as he tore at the alleged chicken. "She was sorting out wedding stuff with Pete. Important stuff, apparently."

"And?" Daniel prompted, wanting more detail. Jack looked at him with a blank expression.

"And nothing." He shrugged again and repeated his behaviour from before. "I think that says it all."

"It says nothing, Jack!" Daniel countered, getting heated at his friend's nonchalance.

"Daniel, for Pete's sake-" Jack bit back the rest of his sentence as he realised what he'd inadvertently said. He slammed a fist down on the table causing the plate to jump a little as well as a few airmen who were peppered about the room. Daniel stared at him as he rubbed a hand roughly over his face and what reappeared from beneath Jack's fingers showed a man at the end of his tether and Daniel admitted, just at the end. Jack had given up, he was stretched as thin as he would for this matter and Daniel knew no amount of meddling was going to help right now.

He had let Sam go.

"Is something wrong?"

The two of them almost jumped out of their skin when a voice drifted from behind Jack. Jack glanced over his shoulder as a step was taken and Carter's worried eyes landed on him. Jack looked away quickly, fiddling with his fork and glancing at Daniel, who he refused to believe was staring back with a look of pity.

"No, I was just briefing Daniel on a mission," Jack explained, glaring at Daniel now and challenging him to quarrel. A few seconds passed and Daniel's face didn't even flinch, even when Sam sat down beside Jack. Feeling her eyes on him Jack thought it best he spoke before she did. "Now that you're back, Colonel, I think you should lead the team. Grab Teal'c and take Daniel digging." With that, he flung his fork down and pushed himself from the seat.

"Sir, I was hoping I could-" Carter began, not getting the chance to finish.

"Not now, Colonel." Jack snapped and ran away from her for the second time, knowing Daniel's and most likely Carter's eyes were glued keenly to him until he was out of their sight.

When Jack was gone, Daniel found Sam staring at him with a look of confusion and a multitude of questions in her eyes. He was so tired of this game. So tired. Her mouth opened and he stood immediately. "I'll see you for the mission, Sam. Thirty minutes." And he was gone too.

* * *

Hopefully the next installment won't take as long as this one. Feedback? 


	11. Inescapable: Chapter 11

Inescapable Chapter 11

AN: Disclaimer and all in Chapter 1. Thanks yet again for all the kind reviews! This one isa little longer and will hopefully keep you going for a while - I've a final year project to get done very sharpish and haven't a clue where to start. Whoever thought up 'Countdown' should be shot, along with my project supervisor who assumes I can make a computer game out of it. Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

"SG-1are suited up and ready to disembark, General," Walter informed Jack as he poked his head inside Jack's office. This was one mission he would gladly miss seeing off but it was procedure if not tradition and he wouldn't allow himself to be so petty. He nodded even though Walter had already left. Standing he patted at his shirt, frowning at the wrinkles in it and wondering if he looked as bad as it did. He started towards the 'Gate Room and promised he would stall no more. At the very least he was getting rid of them for a few hours. Daniel's exuberance earlier also gave Jack the hope that maybe he'd find something on the planet to study and dig at for a few days.

He strode on out thinking on what bliss it would be without Daniel's constant nagging and Carter's finely tuned ability to make his insides crawl into dark corners within him. Even Teal'c's compliant eyebrow was grating on him. Oh, yes, it would be perfect heaven! _I might even catch up on The Simpsons_, he thought with a contented smile and a bounce.

"So, kids," he raised his voice as he entered the 'Gate Room. "Off again." He shoved his hands in his pockets as they all turned to him. Carter took a small step towards him, Teal'c exercising his elastic eyebrow and Daniel only drawing weary eyes at him very briefly before turning back to the now rippling stargate. He pulled his eyes from Daniel and realised how close Carter had gotten in those few seconds, so close he had to resist the urge to jump backwards.

"Sir?" Her voice came out in a nervous whisper and he raised an eyebrow at her, worry tearing away at him furiously. "I was wondering if we could talk-"

"Later, Carter," he cut her off. This was not the place and by God it certainly wasn't the time. Her eyes dropped down for a heartbeat and shot back up with vehemence in them. Their intensity made him flinch, he blinked at it and then she was walking away, rejoining the team. He opened his mouth, unsure of what had just happened or in the speed of it all, what he thought had happened.

"I thought you were in a hurry to get rid of us, Jack." Only Daniel could say something quite as sarcastic and cutting all at the same time and actually get to Jack O'Neill.

_Guessed I deserved that_, he admitted.

He cleared his throat. "All right, you have a go, kids. Carter, make sure Daniel doesn't dig too deep a hole and fall into it."

She was already moving up the ramp at 'go'. Daniel was shaking his head and following which left Jack to stare at Teal'c's eyebrow once again, paused in front of him. Jack challenged it with two of his own. It relaxed and Teal'c eventually followed his team mates.

Jack released a breath he hadn't been sure he was holding. He dug his hands out of his pocket, swivelled on his feet and swung his arms freely as he headed for some peace and quiet.

* * *

"… Daniel has requested that he remain to study the ruins he found," Carter squinted at the sunlight and Jack inexplicably found himself squinting at the video feedback of her. "I can't see any other reason to stay but he feels it's valid." Jack sighed and leaned his weight onto his right leg, folding his arms. 

_Daniel and his rocks…_

"Jack?" Daniel's head bobbed over Sam's and he all but pushed her out of the way as she gave him a seething look. Jack's eyebrows rose, waiting. "There is tremendous text here; it's in Ancient and I think - if I'm right - there's more about three klicks from here. Jack its got reference to-"

Jack's hand flew up and he yelped, "Ah!" Daniel quieted but pursed his lips in defiance. Carter's lips twitched just slightly and Jack glanced to her as he began to speak to Daniel. "Are you sure you'll find something here Daniel - something important? And when I say important I don't mean what kind of -"

"Yes," Daniel cut him off curtly. Jack glowered at him but nodded not missing Carter deflate in the background. "You'll need some additional supplies, I'll have some sent through. Anything specific?"

Carter mumbled something that, Jack had no doubt, was insubordinate when he saw Daniel roll his eyes. "What was that, Colonel?" He asked with a tilt to his head and authority in his expression.

"Nothing, sir," she said over Daniel's shoulder and Jack narrowed his eyes at her a moment.

"All right," he said with a jolt of his body that said he was wrapping up this little ditty. "Supplies will be there shortly, happy camping kids!" Carter gave him an even look as Daniel moved out of her way to let her at the camera again. "Report back in twelve hours, Carter." She didn't look happy.

"_Yes, sir_."

_Nope_, Jack thought, _not happy at all._

"Don't go getting lost!" He teased as she reached up to terminate the link and paused slightly. He grinned at her. "And if you do, just click your heels, real hard, three times!"

He didn't get to see her reaction as she blinked into static.

* * *

"There's no place like home…" 

"What?" Daniel asked as he heard Sam mumbling into her chest as she fiddled with the MALP. She simply shook her head in silence and he raised an eyebrow at her.

"We should get going, it'll be dark soon," Sam supplied with a grunt as she lifted herself from her hunkered position, gazing up at the sky that was still quite bright. Daniel gave her a look that was asking her what kind of crazy assumption that was. "While you were… translating, I had nothing better to do than extrapolate the sun's probable movements since we got here." She shrugged and bent down to pick up her pack, slinging it onto her back. Daniel gazed at her then glanced to Teal'c who regarded him with a look that told him he should know better. And he probably should but sometimes, her super-mind still surprised him.

She was pissed off at something, no, someone. One General Jack O'Neill to be precise and he presumed she wasn't entirely thrilled about staying on this planet for another minute, much less than twelve or more hours which led him to believe her present mood, had a lot to do with him and his ruins too. Yet, she wasn't really showing it, albeit for a few comments under her breath and a few melting glares here and there and those, he was accustomed to, perhaps from Jack but accustomed to nonetheless.

As they moved off, Teal'c, carrying the bulk of the supplies, setting off in front of them and Carter trudging a few steps ahead of him, Daniel decided he should at least talk to her, soothe her and try to explain that he really did need to study these ruins.

"Sam?" She looked briefly over her shoulder as he trotted up to walk beside her. "I know you wanna get back but…"

"Its okay, Daniel," she sighed, interrupting his would-be babbling apology. "I understand. I'm just anxious to get back." She breathed through her nose and bowed her head as if something was weighing heavily on her mind. Daniel frowned at her.

"Maybe if you asked Jack for a replacement, that you had something to take care of…" Sam looked at him, expressionless. The muscles in his cheeks trembled in a nervous gesture. "You're not really paramount to this mission…" Her eyes grew bluer and he noted the nerve he had struck. "What I mean to say is… that I would understand if you wanted to leave and I'm sure Jack would…"

"Would what?" She asked, looking away. For some reason Daniel expected that sentence to be spat from her lips. Instead it arrived calmly and indifferently.

He blinked and said, "Ah…"

"He won't even talk to me," she said in the same indifferent tone, staring ahead as if she was just making small talk. "Orders notwithstanding." She side-glanced to him and Daniel's mouth, that had been ajar, shut. He wasn't about to argue. Her eyes returned to Teal'c's back a few meters ahead.

Daniel watched her closely and he could only ignore her tone, seeing the pain in her eyes. Jack was hurting her. It was, perhaps, retaliation, but she possibly didn't see it that way. He felt his meddling gene reverberate inside him again and the tickling it caused brought a little hope fluttering up. Daniel Jackson needed to know what was going on.

"He's still smarting from the phone call," Daniel told her and her head whipped to him. _Maybe I shouldn't have divulged that,_ he thought belatedly. Apparently, for all Sam knew, the phone conversation was nothing unusual.

"What phone call?" _Apparently, _Daniel added tiredly to his thoughts. He squinted his eyes and pushed his glasses up his nose, preparing himself for this conversation.

"The one where he called to _talk_ and you told him you were busy with _wedding_ stuff." He emphasised certain buzz words so she wouldn't miss their gravity even though he was sure she wouldn't to begin with.

He watched as Sam's brow creased and she cast her eyes down, thinking. It wasn't often Daniel saw Sam Carter look baffled but when her eyes returned up to him they was a haze of confusion dulling their typical brightness.

"I didn't talk to him, Daniel," she said slowly as if checking and re-checking her memory.

Daniel was off already saying, "Exactly! You see that's the problem, if you two could just sit down and talk without one of you hiding or running away or pulling rank… things would be fine. The truth would come out, Jack would say how he feels, you'd say how you feel and it-"

"No!" Carter stopped dead in her tracks, frustrated with Daniel's ranting. He carried on a few steps and whirled around in a token 'startled Daniel' fashion that left him blinking furiously and his eyes darting about waiting for something to launch at him from some hidden direction. Carter threw her eyes up and continued, "I mean, _I haven't spoken to him_, Daniel," she said forcefully. "Not on the phone or in person. God knows I've been trying but…"

"Then… he lied to me."

"Why would he lie to you?" She asked as she closed the distance between them.

"Is there something wrong?" They both turned to Teal'c, they're minds still on the matter. Sam shook her head distractedly and they all continued walking. "I believe we are nearly there," Teal'c said pointing to some ruins over a few ridges.

* * *

"Daniel, you're not staying on your own." Sam shouted across to him as he was furiously taking another rubbing from the wall. 

"Sam, I'll be okay on my own," he shouted back, not even lending his eyes to her. Sam released a calming breath, her lips in a whistling shape and licking them, she strode over to Daniel.

"If memory serves me, Daniel, you are never okay on your own." Daniel, who was now kneeling, flicked his eyes up to her, looking at her above the rim of his glasses. "I refuse to be the one who has to explain how you died … for the billionth time." Daniel gave her a withering look.

"I'm sure Jack would get a kick out of it," he mumbled, glancing back down.

Sam wished, with a sigh, that she could do what Jack did mostly in this situation - grab Daniel by the scruff of his shirt and drag him away. But, as much as she knew she was able and as much as she would secretly revel in it, she wasn't daring enough. She was no Jack O'Neill. She sighed on her silent admission as she remembered how much easier things were when he was in the field with them.

"_Now. Daniel_." Her voice held enough bite to make an army of Jaffa stand to attention and Daniel almost fell back on his ass at the sharp flinch his muscles made.

"Fine," he whinged, scrambling around him for all the notes and rubbings he had, gathering them into a haphazard mess in his hands and stuffing them into one of his notebooks. He jumped up with vigour to meet Sam's eyes. He gave her a nod, not wanting her to think he was deliberately trying to disobey her, he just had so much to learn and the trip back to the 'gate to report would cut precious time from that.

"Teal'c you packed up?"

"I am."

She nodded, watching Daniel stuff his notes into his pack and secure it on himself as they set off. The sun had gone down and although she disliked travelling in darkness, they had to report or the General would be concerned. She hadn't thought to mention it to him earlier, being too preoccupied with her anger, something that she would berate herself for the whole way back to the stargate. Hopefully, General O'Neill wouldn't question why it was dark, or maybe she could just radio… save herself the grief.

* * *

"… so Daniel's been engrossed in the ruins but there isn't much else around. Teal'c and I did a little recon close by but the whole place seems to be uninhabited… we haven't seen sign of any habitation besides the ancient ruins." 

"All right, Colonel," Jack's voice said over the radio. He had been surprised to hear her, rather than see and hear her, she noted, at the beginning of her report, but he hadn't voiced the concern. "Any idea how long it'll take for him to finish colouring on his walls?"

Carter looked to Daniel. He urged her with his eyes, ignoring Jack's choice of words. "He wants to stay for another few days, sir." She heard a sigh at the other end. They had already been there for a few days with the original ruins and the more Jack wanted peace for a while, he would feel safer having them home sooner rather than later.

"Fine, but keep reporting, Colonel."

"Yes, sir."

The radio signal cut when the stargate closed. Sam tucked her radio back into her pocket and looked at Teal'c. "We'll set up camp here for tonight. I noticed a good spot over there." She pointed into the distance a bit and Teal'c followed her finger, turning back briefly to agree with her assessment.

As Teal'c walked off to begin setting up the tents she noticed Daniel coming over to her. "He seems in a better mood."

"Teal'c?" Daniel smiled at her frown.

"Jack," he clarified.

"Oh, really?" She wondered with a tone that said she didn't believe him, following Teal'c to help out. "Good for him," she called back.

* * *

"Hey." 

"Hey," Carter said softly with a smile as Daniel poked his head into her tent.

"Did I wake you?" He knew he hadn't, he had heard her sighing for the past hour. She shook her head and he walked on in, sitting down beside her. Carter, sat up, rolling down her sleeping bag a little as she did.

"So…" she began but tailed off in hesitation.

Daniel had gotten the feel from her during their makeshift dinner that she had wanted to talk but was reluctant. She had gone to bed before him and Teal'c and so he had assumed she changed her mind.He had only been lying in his tent for less than ten minutes when he heard discontented noises coming from hers. After about an hour, Teal'c turned to him and said, "You are having trouble sleeping, DanielJackson." Daniel just rolled over and raised an eyebrow, something Teal'c was already doing. "Perhaps you need to … talk about it." Daniel smiled at the Jaffa's subtle attempt to urge him to lend Sam an ear and so he nodded and headed to do just that.

"Why do you think he lied to you?" She asked the question playing on her lips.

"I don't know," Daniel said in his rushed manner that was preceded by a disturbed expression and left him frowning at the floor. "Maybe to get me off his back," he shrugged.

"You were on his back?" Sam queried with a quirk to her lips. Daniel shot her a half amused half irritated glance. "About?"

He couldn't believe she had to ask! "About you!"

"Me?"

"You, him..." He said with a raised voice, gesturing with his hands. His eyes and his hands moved to gesture at her hand as he continued to speak, "…that damn ring…" He tailed off as Sam's hand, curled over the sleeping bag, jumped. He stared at her hand, her ring finger in particular and then he slowly found his way up to her head, where he found a blush colouring her cheeks mercilessly. His mouth fell open and he faltered only a second before spluttering, "Where is it?"

Sam glanced down to her hand, straightening her fingers out and examining them. She lifted her eyes sheepishly to Daniel. "I gave it back."

"Y-yo-you gave it back?" She nodded, avoiding his eyes.

"I didn't think it right to keep it when I wasn't planning on marrying him," she offered as an answer.

"Oh, my," Daniel said, shocked. This, he hadn't expected. "So…"

"So…"

"Pete?"

"Gone."

"Gone…"

"Daniel?"

"Yeah?"

"Did I do the right thing?"

_Oh boy_, Daniel thought. Instead, he took a deliberate breath and said, "I think you're the only one who can answer that, Sam." She looked disappointed and the hopeful eyes that were fixed on him were covered quickly with her lids. Her eyelashes fluttered a little and she dropped her head into her chest before looking back up with a short, quick smile that certainly didn't portray her thoughts. Daniel felt horrid, he had all but pushed her into this and he had been certain it was what she wanted and now… now that the consequences were falling into his lap he wasn't so sure he should've pushed anything at all. She was unhappy, very, and so was Jack.

"I do think you need to tell him, though." She lifted an eyebrow to his suggestion then looked away quickly.

"I've tried." Daniel winced at the crack in her voice. He reached across and grasped her hand, covering the mockingly naked finger from sight and giving it a comforting squeeze. She rested bleary eyes on his.

"It'll work out, Sam." She nodded at him but clearly wasn't so sure.

"Goodnight, Daniel," she said, pulling her hand out of his gently.

He stood and watched her with pity in his eyes as she nestled back into her sleeping bag.

"Night, Sam."

He walked out of her tent, wishing he hadn't started meddling in her life at all and cursing the particular part of him that wouldn't let such things lie.

* * *

Feedback? Pretty please! 


	12. Inescapable: Chapter 12

Inescapable Chapter 12

AN: Disclaimer and all in Chapter 1.

* * *

"That official Air Force business?"

O'Neill's head whipped up from the paper aeroplane he was folding on his desk. He grinned at the arresting sight sauntering into his office in a tailored black skirt suit. He sighed a little in satisfaction. She grinned at him, taking note of his reaction, he had commented on the suit before and it had fast become her favourite. She watched as he returned his attention to the creased sheet grasped, now a little tightly, in his fingers. He frowned at it, lifted it between his thumb and middle finger and launched it at her. It cut through the air swiftly on target for her as her eyes widened at his behaviour, this man was …

_Mystifying. At the best of times,_ she decided.

The paper aeroplane was still en route, albeit considerably slowly, to her and then suddenly it took a sharp nose dive, crashing just short of her feet. Two pairs of eyes settled on it.

"Nuts."

"Undeniably," she quipped with a wry smile. He only raised an eyebrow as he knitted his fingers together and lifted his hands over his head, leaning into the seat and letting them rest in the mess of his hair, beaming a smile at his visitor.

"Agent Johnson," he drawled, a twinkle in his eyes. She walked closer to the desk, her heels clicking on the concrete distinctly and for some reason, he found the noise sexy as hell. It wasn't often he heard the crack of a woman's heels, other than in the as-far-away-from-you-as-I-can-get direction.

"General," she began, her eyes sparkling with something he couldn't nor wanted to place momentarily. _Maybe later though,_ he confessed. "About-"

"UNSCHDULED OFF-WORLD ACTIVATION!" Her words were lost in the noise of the claxons and the announcement. Jack sprang out of his seat instantly and darted out of his office, leaving her simply turning and watching, her mouth open, forgotten.

"Who's calling at this hour of the morning?" Jack retorted, clapping his hands together as he entered the Control Room, glancing down at the Gate Room. The tech was tapping furiously at the keyboard and Jack muttered to himself, disappointed at having his joke fall on deaf ears. He used to at least get a tight grin out of Carter.

"It's SG-1, sir." He still hadn't gotten used to hearing that. SG-1. His team, no. No, not his team. Not anymore. Carter's team. Without him.

"Open the iris!" He barked and stared intently at the metal circle until it retracted, blinking and squinting when no one came through immediately. He jumped when a blast shot through the shimmering puddle. His body reacted by racing down the stairs, shouting for the blast door to be closed. He passed Kerry on the way, standing idly at the bottom of the stairs to the briefing room, a frown marring her face. He glanced briefly at her. _They're coming in hot,_ he thought worriedly as he heard another few staff blasts hit something solid in the Gate Room.

He was waiting patiently for the door to open, swiping a gun off an airman, geared up and ready for any hostiles that might casually pay them a visit. When the door slid open enough for him to squeeze through he heard boots on the ramp, then, "Medic! We require medical assistance!"

His eyes grew wide and shock made him pause for the slightest of milliseconds as he breathed, "Daniel…" and rushed to his team mates' side. His grip on the gun tightened and he glanced up as he felt, rather than heard someone coming through the Stargate. A voice told him he should be ordering the iris to be closed but his mind was rigidly refusing to comply as he stood above his fallen friend. Teal'c was hunched over an unconscious Daniel who was drenched in blood, his uniform singed. Jack wrinkled his nose at the smell of seared flesh. His eyes drifted to Carter, who was bobbing on her heels, controlling herself to a stop, having come through the 'gate at an alarming speed.

"Carter," Jack said with a strange edge to his voice.

"Close the-" The words stopped. She stood eyes wide, body taut. Jack tilted his head in confusion and it only took a second to recognise that look in her eyes. Dimming.

_Dying… Carter!_

"Close the iris!" He yelled his voice harsh. Why hadn't they done it already? He rushed to her, throwing his weapon from him haphazardly. Her knees were the first to go and she slumped downwards, falling into his frantic arms. He slid to his knees, Carter in his arms moaning gently at the pain through gritted teeth. He winced and felt a familiar twinge in his stomach as he confirmed that she had been struck by a staff blast in the back. He tore his eyes from the slickness covering her back and looked to her face as he felt a medical team rushing to Daniel. She was staring at him, horror flashing briefly in the depths of her blue eyes.

"Daniel…" she whispered brokenly. Then, her eyes slipped close.

"No!"

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I know... more will be up soon! Patience and feedback please!


	13. Inescapable: Chapter 13

Inescapable Chapter 13

AN: Disclaimer and all in Chapter 1. Wow! I didn't expect such response to the last chapter... but thanks and sorry this took so long. I've been awful busy and will continue to be for a while soI apologise for any delays in the future. Anywho, enjoy! Any mistakes you find - I'm sorry, this one was done in a hurry!

* * *

"Doc?" It was all he could do to get that one, abbreviated word past his lips. The Doctor looked up from his chart, his eyes regretful as he made another adjustment to Daniel's medication.

"He had some internal bleeding; the burns were minor but…" The Doctor took a heavy breath as he let the pages of the chart fall back down into place, giving Jack his full attention. "His head injuries were a bit more serious." Jack shoved his hands into his pockets, making fists with both of them. He gave a short nod of his head. He knew what was coming from the look on the doctor's face. "There's a minimal amount of swelling but I'm confident he'll be okay." Another nod. _At least there's that,_ he thought glumly. He cleared his throat as his eyes drifted to the left, resting on the other bed. The Doctor followed his gaze.

"Colonel Carter…sir," Jack lifted his chin a little unable to appear unaffected by the rock that seemed to be in the physician's throat. "The blast caught most of her upper back; the vest insert wasn't as kind to her as Dr. Jackson. The charge travelled up her spinal cord, there's a lot of swelling in the brain and I'm afraid there may be some damage to the hindbrain, her-" The doctor paused as he took in the fatigued hand that pressed against the general's forehead and pulled at battle weary skin as it slid down his face, obviously zoning out of the bleak medical condition of his 2IC. _His friend,_ the doctor added absently. Normally, by now General O'Neill would be swatting air and throwing a sarcastic remark, possibly something about a nutshell. A nutshell he would give him then, as he didn't seem able to voice it.

He would not use words like cerebellum, pons, medulla - regulation of breathing, motor coordination, posture, balance … no, the General didn't need to know. "I don't know if she'll wake up, sir." O'Neill's eyes suddenly flashed back into the room. "She's in a coma and will remain until, at the very least, the swelling goes down and I can assess if any damage has been done." Another nod and the Doctor took a moment to watch the wretchedness in his superior's eyes before he left him alone.

Jack wandered over to Sam almost reluctantly. From afar, he could almost pretend it wasn't his friend lying there, dead to the world… or almost at the very least. How many times had they been here before? How many times had Sam been here before? _Too Goddamn many._ He was at her beside now, taking in the pale visage, the near lifeless body, tubes springing from her, making her look like some appendage of the machines keeping her alive. Jack's gut twisted. He hated this. Waiting. Just damn well waiting. Carter was possibly on her death bed and all he could do was stand and wait. Wait to see if the scales tipped in the balance of life or death.

_Sycophantic shit-eating snake heads! _His mind screamed, the colour in his cheeks only softly reflecting the fury seeping through his blood. Teal'c had been debriefed while the medics worked furiously on the two fallen soldiers. They had been ambushed by a group of Jaffa.

Daniel had been driving Carter nuts, or as Teal'c put it, he was 'being acutely DanielJackson' that day. Jack knew what that meant. Nagging, moaning, arguing, griping…maddening! Jack smiled sadly as he gazed at Daniel's still face and replaced it with the animate picture he was used to. There was no doubt that Daniel Jackson could be infuriating at times. And this time, it had been Carter that fell victim to it. She had ordered them back to the 'gate and Daniel spent the entire trek back wearing her down. He wanted at the very least to be able to make a slight detour to the original ruins before they gated back but she was having none of it, already sick of the planet after over a week.

Daniel insisted and she ignored him so he began to stalk off on his own after a loud shouting match, where they traded barbs. He felt that if he could hurry and get ahead of schedule that he could pull an hour or so at the ruins and still be on time. Carter, of course, wasn't letting him run off on his own. And just as she was spewing out some colourful adjectives at Daniel's shrinking form, her toe caught in an exposed root in the soil and she tumbled with a solid thud to the ground. Her cursing only got worse when she realised that she'd twisted her ankle. Teal'c attended to her and Daniel was forgotten fleetingly as she got fixed up and ready to move out again.

That's when they heard it. Ear-splitting screaming. A few moments later they were fighting for their lives against eleven Jaffa. They managed to take out eight of them, escaping past their motionless bodies, slumped around Daniel's blood encrusted body. They made it to the 'gate eventually, Carter holding off the enemy as Teal'c, with Daniel thrown over his shoulder, dialled home.

And ironic that it was Carter that was now fighting for her life.

_I'll never get used to this._

"Ja...ck?"

Jack spun around on his two feet as he heard a scratchy voice from behind. Daniel's eyes fluttered.

"Daniel." He rushed to his bedside as he struggled into consciousness. He laid a hand on his shoulder, willing him with his touch to wake up. Daniel's eyes finally focused on him, dull and hazy. His lips twitched in what might have been a smile had he tried but it ended up more like a grimace. His eyes grew wider and sparked. He shot his head off the pillow and Jack moved to push him back down. "Sam! Teal'c!"

"Lay down, Daniel," Jack ordered quietly, pressing on his shoulder as the pain finally ripped through him, protesting at the movement. "Teal'c is fine. Carter's…" He swallowed moderately, stopping himself short of saying 'fine'. The last thing he would do to him now was lie. "…here." He blinked a few times and relaxed back onto the pillow. Daniel then turned his head and spotted Sam in the opposite bed and Jack was surprised at how fast his eyes shone. "She was hit in the back by a stray blast that came through the 'gate." Daniel looked away quickly.

"Will she be okay?" Jack's hands went back into his pockets again as he felt an insane urge to ruffle his hair nervously.

"I don't know." There was nothing like the cold hard truth to make shining eyes spill. "Daniel…" Jack wanted to comfort him but he couldn't lie, and comfort was something he couldn't find within himself right now even if he reached into the farthest, deepest, lost corners of his being. He just didn't know what to say, so he let his lips close slowly.

"It's my fault," Daniel said, his words filled with guilt. Jack was shaking his head slowly already and raking a hand through his hair again.

"It's not your fault, Daniel," he told him firmly as he returned his hand to his pocket.

"I was bugging her about the ruins, I ran off. Jack…" Daniel looked up at him. "I abandoned them and the next thing I knew I was getting tossed about by Jaffa… lots and lots of Jaffa." Daniel swallowed and Jack shifted on his feet, glad he wasn't privy to the particular memory Daniel was reliving through horrified eyes. "The last thing I heard was Sam shouting my name and telling me that I was gonna be okay."

"And you are," Jack reminded him.

"At what cost to her?"

"Daniel..." Jack began, exasperatedly. He did not need to beat himself up over this. "It. Was. Not. Your. Fault."

Daniel avoided his eyes and stared hard at the ceiling, the memories haunting him again.

"Understood?" He was gonna get confirmation out of him if he had to force it.

"Yeah," Daniel offered and Jack could tell he didn't believe it.

He stared at his wounded archaeologist a moment and he seemed completely lost in his own thoughts, just as he was. Guilt wasn't only haunting Daniel, it was also having a go at him and he couldn't look at those haunted eyes anymore, knowing that while Daniel was bearing the blame, it was entirely his own fault. "Get some rest, Daniel."

He felt Daniel's eyes follow him out and he wondered if he would realise exactly whose fault Carter's injury fell to when he stilled his mind for a second and had the clarity to ask the details from the moment they came back through the 'gate. He should've had the iris closed faster. Carter could've died because he wasn't concentrating. That was most certainly his fault. And he would never forgive himself for it.

* * *

Feedback, pretty please! 


	14. Inescapable: Chapter 14

Inescapable Chapter 14

AN: Disclaimer and all in Chapter 1. Sorry this took so long, college has been crazy lately. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed actually have a few moments to myself to write it!

* * *

Daniel whipped around; reacting to a sound he had heard so many times before, a sound that still made his blood run cold. More echoes of that same sound joined it like an obedient army. And an army it was, an army of Jaffa boots resounding off the ground and advancing on him. His heart stilled for a moment, he froze in terror and his hand shot up, pointing his gun and glancing around realising instantly that his team was nowhere in sight. He was in trouble, big trouble. If he got out of this alive, Jack would probably kill him for being so stupid. He would have to get in line though, behind Sam no doubt. 

He blinked and felt heat pass his ears. He was soon reminded of that heat as another staff blast zipped past his waist. He screamed in panic and hunched down as he tore at the ground with his own frantic boots. His eyes kept glancing over his shoulder as more rounds of blasts missed him and somewhere inside, a little voice that sounded a hell of a lot like Jack, was telling him to find cover and to stop looking behind him before he tripped over himself. Just as he was about to dive behind a rock formation a fire erupted in his thigh and he cried out in pain, his right leg buckling beneath him. Daniel gripped the leg with his hands, gritting his teeth at the pain. He hadn't missed that particular feeling. Jack's voice was sounding again, _Get up Spacemonkey, pump those crazy legs!_ Despite the grave situation Daniel's grimace was broken momentarily.

He had to keep going, the boots were getting closer. He heaved his body upright and began to run again, trying to ignore the smell of his own burned flesh and the pain tearing up his leg. He knew the Stargate wasn't far and that Sam and Teal'c couldn't be far behind. _Sam! Teal'c! _He was abruptly reminded that he might not be the only one running for his life. He slowed a little as he fondled for his radio and just as he did it crackled to life.

"Daniel!" It was Sam's frantic voice. "Come in, Daniel!"

He hit a button, "Sam. Jaffa! They're behind me."

"We're on our way, Daniel. Hang in there, head for the Stargate and dial home."

Daniel felt the heat of another four blasts whipping past him and he hunched his shoulders as he ran.

"I don't know if I can make-" The radio went flying from Daniel's grasp as he felt something solid connect with his back.

As soon as he had doubled over and opened his eyes from the pain he saw it coming. The end of a staff weapon. His eyes grew wide as it was swung towards his head and made a resounding crack as it impacted with the side of his skull. Another cry passed his lips as he flew backwards onto the ground in reaction. A moment of dizziness overcame him and then he saw the boots getting closer. He grabbed his gun, which he still had grasped loosely in his left hand and swung it in the general direction of those boots. His vision was blurry and he wasn't sure he would hit anything but he fired anyway.

Another sound filled his ears, the sound of someone dying. For a moment, he wasn't sure if it was him or the Jaffa. Then his vision cleared a little and he saw the limp, armoured body of a Jaffa beside him. He needed to get up despite the pain in his back, his leg and his skull. He pulled himself to his knees with great effort and swayed a moment before his legs thrust him upwards and seemed to carry him further ahead all by themselves.

He was sure he could see the Stargate up just ahead but he was far to distracted by the blasts now coming from his left and right. He kept running, grunting in pain. A new sound reached his ears and it sounded like a choir of angels, singing just for him.

Gunfire.

He glanced over his shoulder as spotted bursts of gunfire ignite inside the trees he had just ran through. Sam and Teal'c were there! He hesitated a second, wondering if he should go back and help, or follow Sam's order and head to the 'gate. His hesitation made the decision for him. He would do neither.

He would simply lie there, in his own blood and wait for the blackness to take him.

He knew he had been hit and could hear the boots again, but they were no longer something that worried him, nor he them. He could still hear gunfire and knew it was getting closer. Perhaps at the very least, Sam and Teal'c could get out alive. Then he heard her.

"Daniel!" Her voice was terrified, and his eyes flew open at it and settled on a Jaffa standing close-by, with a staff weapon trained on him. He watched, disinterested, until bullets started ripping through the Jaffa's armour, tearing flesh and splattering blood, his body convulsing with each hit until the bullets relented and he crumpled to the ground, fear flashing in his eyes before growing dark. Then she was beside him.

"Daniel!" He felt her hands on him and he was insanely comforted by it. He ignored the impending blackness and drew a breath, just for her. "Daniel, it's okay. I'm here." He looked at her as her head whipped up and she raised her gun, firing again.

"Colonel Carter!" It was Teal'c's voice and Daniel lost sight of Sam's face a moment as she fired off in another direction.

Cursing when she found respite for another moment, she shouted to Teal'c. "Teal'c, we need to get him out of here. You'll have to carry him." Teal'c was already advancing on them with speed. "I'll hold them off while you dial home." Her head bobbed back into his view and he found it hard to focus on her. Blue pools were all he could make out as she spoke to him again. "It's gonna be okay, Daniel. I'll get you back."

Then the pools of brilliant blue were fading and a sick blackness was bleeding into them. Daniel felt panic rise and then… nothing.

* * *

The next thing Daniel knew he opened his eyes startled at a blinding light. He was in the infirmary, back in the safety of the SGC and Jack was filling him in. Sam had indeed gotten him home and he was alive, yet she was lying across from him, fighting to hold onto her own life. Jack had been honest with him. Sam might not make it. 

Daniel could see the horrible dread in his friend's eyes and knew that he too, behind his unflinching mask, was horrified at the prospect of losing his own friend. _The woman he loves, _Daniel amended. Jack would never admit any of the feelings raging inside him but Daniels didn't need to hear it to actually _know _it. He could see it in the way he frequently found his eyes drifting to the other bed, the way he hung his head, the way he was fiddling with the piece of medical equipment he had grasped between white fingers, even in the way Jack walked as he left the room. He could tell he didn't want to leave her side and yet didn't want to stay and see her like this, helpless to do anything but wait.

He turned his head from the empty space Jack had left to look upon Sam. He had nothing to do but wait either and he hadn't the luxury of being able to leave like Jack. The only place he could go was into his head. So he welcomed the darkness once again.

* * *

Jaffa were advancing on him again, _that_ sound haunting him as he cowered in a corner with nowhere to go. He could only sit and wait for the inevitable and then it came, the weapon opened just inches from his nose, it glowed and he screamed as a blinding light engulfed him... 

Danielawoke to an empty infirmary. Dreaming, he had been dreaming. He tried to sit up and coughed instead. He needed water. His eyes shot to his left as he reached to the locker for the jug that had been there. It was then he realised that the infirmary really was…empty.

"Sam!" He shouted. Where had she gone? Her bed was empty, all the machines were gone and the sheets were pristinely folded as if she had never been there. "Somebody!" He cried out in panic as he sat up quickly, paying no heed to the pain it caused.

"What is it, Daniel?" Jack was in the doorway with an irritated expression, leaning against the frame, his arms folded and his legs crossed at the ankle.

"Where's Sam?" He asked panicked, dividing frantic eyes between Jack and the bed as if Sam was just going to appear there.

"She's gone, Daniel," Jack replied, shoving his hands into his pockets. Daniel narrowed his eyes. _Gone? _Jack was walking towards him, looking sadly at the empty bed for a brief moment then back to Daniel. His eyes hardened and brown almost became black. "She's dead."

"No!" _She couldn't be! She was just here! _

"Sam's dead, Daniel," Jack repeated coldly and Daniel shivered at the way Jack spoke her name. Jack never used her name. Daniel felt tears burning in his eyes. She couldn't be dead. Not Sam!

"It should've been me," Daniel rasped. Jack raised an eyebrow as he parted his lips and just… shrugged.

"It should've been anybody but her," Jack said. Daniel looked at him through tears that were freely tumbling down his cheeks.

"I'm sorry, Jack." Jack turned hot, dark eyes upon him and Daniel felt their hatred like a physical blow. Jack abruptly tore his eyes away.

"So am I, Daniel," he said as he turned away, bowing his head and began wandering out of the room, pausing in the doorway again to say, "…but that doesn't bring her back."

Daniel's tears had soaked him in his own grief and as they trailed on relentlessly he wondered if he would drown in them, in a slow, agonising and painful death he would almost welcome, as long as it promised release from this hell. His sobs turned suddenly into screams and his eyes were blinded by the light behind his lids.

* * *

Let me know what you thought, pretty please? 


	15. Inescapable: Chapter 15

Inescapable Chapter 15

AN: Disclaimer and all in Chapter 1.

Yeah, yeah. I know I'm cruel and all that. Teehee! No really, I'm sorry... actually I'm not. Thanks for the reviews again.Anyway, maybe this'll help pacify you a little. Possibly. I think.

* * *

Jack's head lifted out of his hands as the noises in the room grew louder. His tired, dry eyes appeared from beneath wispy eyelashes and he glanced at Daniel. His stirring had gradually been getting more frantic in the half an hour he had been in the infirmary. He dropped his hands into his lap and pushed on his knees as he stood from the chair and strolled over to Daniel's bedside. 

The man's face was troubled, strained and Jack could swear he saw something glisten at the corner of his left eye. Jack sighed. Daniel was mumbling now, very obviously having a nightmare.

"No…" Jack frowned as words slipped from Daniel's unconscious form. "No!" The cry was accompanied by furious thrusting suddenly as Daniel's arms clawed at something and his body was flung about in the bed. Jack launched for him before he fell out.

"Daniel!" He secured his hands around Daniel's wrists and tried to pin them down. Daniel still fought against him so he gave him a fierce shake and shouted, "Daniel!"

Daniel's body stilled and his eyes shot open seeing Jack instantly. Daniel flinched considerably, trying to pull his arms free. Jack scowled at him and held on. "Hey!" He protested and Daniel stopped and stared at him with a weird sense of surrender in his eyes. Jack let him go quickly and took a step back, for some reason he was acutely uncomfortable with this situation. He glanced away, not wanting to look at Daniel, especially when he saw the glistening from the corner of his eyes, trickle down into his hair.

"Sam…" Daniel breathed. Jack's eyes found him briefly at the tone he used. "Sam's gone…"

Jack cleared his throat and glanced past the empty chair he'd been sitting in. He sighed and looked back to Daniel, who was now turned on his side, his back to Jack. Jack closed the distance he had put between them in a swift step and in a fluid motion his hand was squeezing Daniel's shoulder.

"Hey, Danny?" Daniel didn't respond. "Daniel," Jack said more forcefully and his friend's head twitched backwards a little. "Sam's here, she's not gone." Daniel's head whipped around, along with most of his upper body. Jack held back a wince at the desperateness in his eyes. "You were having a nightmare," he explained softly, now pressing on his shoulder and forcing him to lie on his back. "Look." Jack pointed across the room to where he'd been sitting and Daniel's eyes followed his finger growing large when they fell on Sam, lying just as she had been when he first woke up.

"Oh, God," Daniel whispered, his breath catching in what Jack couldn't decide was relief, distress or possibly both. Jack gave him a reassuring squeeze again and pocketed his hand. "I thought…"

"Yeah," Jack cut in, not needed or wanting Daniel to finish. "Hey, don't give up on her yet." Daniel took a deep breath and gazed at him, his eyes telling Jack he would never do such a thing. Jack threw him a half smile. "Carter's a tough cookie." Daniel nodded and his hand went to his temple as he finally registered the pain there.

Jack licked his lips as he watched the pain etched in Daniel's face. "Quite a knock you took," he motioned with his own head to Daniel's and Daniel's fingers stopped their massage on his temples.

"It's nothing," Daniel muttered and his hands dropped to his sides.

"Daniel…"

"Jack, don't."

Jack cleared his throat and sent a firm expression Daniel's way.

"Don't start with the '_It was all my fault complex'_, Daniel," Jack spat, annoyed. "I know how you're feeling but-"

"You're not the one that ran off out on that-" Daniel shouted.

"Daniel!"

"-planet. How could you know-"

"_I know_!" Jack's face hardened as his roar silenced Daniel instantly, shocking him. The hand that had flung into the air in response to the explosion within him, was now hanging there and he thrust a finger at Daniel. "She didn't get injured on that damn planet Daniel! She was hit in the 'gate room - why? Because the order to close the iris wasn't fast enough!" Jack was forced to draw air at last and his chest heaved as emotionally stunned eyes remained immovable from Daniel.

"Jack," Daniel began, about to launch into exactly the same conversation Jack had with him without even realising it. Jack, however, knew exactly what he was going to do. He waved his hand at Daniel and calmed himself, tearing his eyes away reluctantly.

"It's not my fault - that's what you're going to say, right?" Daniel blinked at him, his mouth ajar. Jack half rolled his eyes. "I know me telling you it isn't yours either isn't going to stop you going through the 'what ifs' but we both should know better. It's the Jaffa's fault." Jack saw Daniel swallow and a haze cover his eyes briefly and wondered what it was. "And if she could, Carter would kick both our asses for even thinking otherwise in the first place." With that, Jack lips were forced to quirk slightly and he couldn't stop himself from looking over at Carter, knowing that if she could hear them somewhere she'd be grinning and saying, 'Damn right!… Sir'.

"You're right," Daniel acquiesced in a soft resigning tone, staring down at his body sheepishly.

"I am…?" Jack was still thinking on Carter and what her reactions would be to all the goings on in this room since she'd arrived. He shook his head as he saw her pull a scowl at him and point to Daniel. "I am," he said more sure of himself now as he turned to look at Daniel again. "Right!" Jack went over to his seat again and picked up the book he'd been reading earlier. "I've gotta go." He glanced at Carter and hesitated. He was unexpectedly seeing her in his mind's eye shooing him away, 'I need my beauty sleep, sir'. Even if he didn't agree with that, in more than one way… perhaps Daniel did.

"Jack?" Daniel questioned to breath of laughter that fell from Jack's lips as he stood in a daze at Carter's bed. Jack seemed to phase back into realty with a shake of his head and turned to face Daniel with a gentle smile on his face.

"I'll let you get your beauty sleep, Daniel…" Jack was already gone before Daniel had time to glare at him.

* * *

"If you've come to spring me out, you're a little late." Daniel grinned as he buttoned up his shirt and turned to see Jack swinging in the doorway with raised eyebrows. 

"Nuts!" He cursed and sauntered on in, offering Sam a quick glance as he did. "Was hoping I could piss the Doc off a little more this week."

"You're gonna send him to a mental institute if you don't stop torturing him, Jack," Daniel told him turning from the bed and grabbing the bag he'd quickly thrown the junk he'd managed to gather during his three weeks in the infirmary into.

"Aren't you supposed to be discouraging me here, Daniel?" Jack wiggled his eyebrows as he swooped in and took the bag from Daniel's hands. Daniel's forehead creased but he decided against the 'I'm not an invalid' line as Jack stood bouncing on his toes wearing the first genuine smile Daniel had seen in weeks. "Come on." Jack ushered him out and Daniel didn't miss the glance he gave in the way of Sam, yet again.

"Maybe you could have my bed now."

"What?" Jack pretended he hadn't the foggiest idea about what Daniel was insinuating.

Daniel sighed deeply and folded his arms. "How many nights have you actually gone home in the past three weeks?" Jack's only response was to side-glance and lift his left eyebrow quickly. "You can't spend your life sitting in that room, waiting for her to wake up, Jack."

Jack stopped abruptly and turned angrily to Daniel. "What else am I supposed to do, Daniel?" He snapped.

"Get on with your life," Daniel suggested in a soft tone. "I'm not suggesting you give up on her-"

"It sure sounds like it!"

"I just… Jack, she wouldn't want this for you." Jack was walking again and Daniel struggled to catch up, his leg still not properly healed.

"She'd do the same for me," Jack threw over his shoulder.

Daniel was nodding even though Jack wasn't looking. "That doesn't necessarily make it the right thing to do."

"I never was good at following the rules." Jack's tone had softened and his step had slowed, obviously realising Daniel's struggled to keep up with him.

"Jack." "DanielJackson."

Teal'c and Kerry Johnson were standing at the top of the corridor and greeted the two men together. Daniel smiled at Teal'c, amused at the glee on the Jaffa's face and the blush that was creeping up Kerry's face.

He bowed his head to both of them and as Kerry added a belated greeting to him he couldn't decide if the blush was for her tardiness or for the fact that she had just called Jack by his first name at work. He knew about their relationship, but Jack had clearly expressed that it was never going to interfere with work. Truth was, Daniel hadn't seen it interfere with much at all since he'd become privy to it. Kerry had been in the infirmary once and to his knowledge, Jack had barely left it. He was there when Daniel awoke and fell asleep. What time that left for Kerry or their relationship to interfere even with Jackhad Daniel baffled. He would question Jack on it later.

"I am pleased to see you," Teal'c said, very clearly pleased.

"Me too," Kerry said and Daniel just looked at her.

"Ah," Jack was noticing the awkwardness. "T, why don't you take this?" He threw Teal'c Daniel's bag. "Take him to the commissary and I'll be down in five, okay?" Teal'c nodded once and quirked an eyebrow at Daniel, titling his head in a prompt for them to leave. Daniel threw one last look at Jack and Kerry and headed off.

When they were gone, Kerry turned to Jack. "I don't think Daniel likes me very much," she said with speed, hoping he would drop any topic regarding the awkwardness just now. Jack threw his eyebrows up in a shrug and pressed his hand to her lower back, urging her to walk with him.

"I wouldn't take any offence to it, Daniel doesn't even like me." He grinned and she gave him a weak smile. He was in a better mood than he had been in for a very long time now.

"You're glad he's out of the infirmary, aren't you?"

"Of course I am," he replied in a tone that loudly wondered if she was crazy.

"I mean… never mind." She shook her head and stared straight in front. "How's Colonel Carter?" She looked to her right where Jack was walking when he didn't answer immediately. His head had fallen into his chest and he was paying intricate attention to his boots.

"No change." It was the same two words she had heard him say whenever she brought up his 2IC recently - the _only_ two words.

"I'm sorry." The only two words _she_ would say in response. A sigh escaped him and she felt a pang of empathy resonate inside her. She wanted to hold him, she wanted to comfort him. But, that, he would never let her do. Not only because he refused to admit he needed someone to comfort him, but because he refused to admit he had something he needed to be comforted over. She sighed and he must have heard it as his eyes lifted slightly to look at her.

"What do you say to dinner tonight?" She changed the subject quickly. "I could cook…"

"Sure," he answered but his tone betrayed his enthusiasm. "I'll see you later." Another sigh passed from her nostrils this time and she stared at the ground not wanting to watch him stride away from her for the hundredth time in the past few weeks. It wasn't meant to be this hard. It hadn't been this hard.

* * *

Drop me a line... let me know if you liked or not! 


	16. Inescapable: Chapter 16

Inescapable Chapter 16

AN: Disclaimer and all in Chapter 1.

I hope this chapter clears a few questions up for some people - I didn't know you were such an anxious bunch! Hope you enjoy!

* * *

"You heading home?"

Daniel waved his goodbye to Teal'c who was off to pack for a trip to see his son. His eyes slid to Jack, who was being overly obvious that he hoped Daniel was going to stick about.

"No, I was gonna go check out my lab - see what state it's in," he answered as they replaced the trays they had used as they were leaving the commissary. He wasn't staying just because Jack wanted - or needed - him but because he actually wanted to. As far as he was concerned, the SGC was in no short way, home. And right now, he needed home as much as it needed him.

"It's always in a state, Daniel," Jack quipped as they automatically headed in the direction of Daniel's lab.

"Funny, Jack."

"You're not supposed to be working for another few days, remember?"

"I remember," Daniel sighed. "I just want to look."

"No translating."

"No."

"Or referencing."

"None."

"No rock dusting."

"Wouldn't think of it."

"Or reading."

"What!"

Jack just shrugged at him. "Reading is work for you… isn't it?" He looked confused.

"People _do_ read for relaxation, Jack."

"People, yes. _You_ read for…" He knew there was a point in there somewhere but his only argument to put forward at the moment seemed to be his trademark confused look.

"Reading is what I do, Jack," Daniel said calmly.

"Yes, it is." Daniel looked at Jack, realising this as one of those 'Jack O'Neill' moments that no one in the galaxy, and possibly a few others, that anyone but Jack O'Neill would ever understand. Sometimes, Daniel even wondered if Jack understood them.

"I promise not to pop an eye socket," Daniel said, hoping the compromise would at least allow him to peek at the latest mission archaeological reports. Jack nodded. They walked in silence until they reached his office. Daniel poked his head in… and sneezed.

"Jeez, has anybody even been in here in three weeks?"

"Beats me," Jack offered, following Daniel in and picking up a rock to toss about on the way. He danced it between his hands while Daniel disturbed more dust as he rooted through his belongings, sneezing furiously and grunting a few times when it strained his still tender injuries.

"You okay?"

"Fine," he grumbled, gripping his desk a little tighter than necessary. Daniel spied what Jack had in his hands and what he was doing with it. He rolled his eyes. "Please put that down, Jack, it's not a juggling ball." Jack eyed the thing… for all he knew, it could be. Noticing the stare Daniel was giving him he swiftly set it down on the bench beside him.

"So…?" Jack trailed and Daniel glanced at him questioningly.

"So?" Daniel mimicked him, giving Jack his full attention. He was hanging around him like a bad smell since he'd gotten out of the infirmary and that could only mean one thing, he needed to talk about something that only Daniel could help him with.

"So…"

"Jack!" Daniel protested folding his arms and leaning against the support of his desk. "Spit it out."

Jack blinked, and said, "I called Pete a few days after…" He tailed off and Daniel realised it wasn't the first time that Jack had stopped short of saying it. He had never actually referred to it as anything. Not as after Carter got shot, or after Carter nearly got killed, or when Carter was put into a coma. He hadn't once said it. Jack was one big walking example of denial.

"Yeah?" He would spare him the awkwardness, as he had done a few times before.

"I told him I thought he should know… I supposed he might have been worrying about her…"

"And?" Daniel had a feeling he knew where this was going and he wondered exactly how much he should tell Jack. "He never came to visit," Daniel pointed out, never having seen the man in the infirmary.

"He did."

"Oh?"

"A few times."

"And?"

"He said Carter… he said the engagement was off." Jack scratched his head and waited for Daniel's reaction.

"I know."

"You… _knew_?"

"Sam told me," Daniel told him, ignoring the shock on his face. "Did he tell you why she broke it off?"

Jack, who had been studying the floor of Daniel's lab quite interestedly, seemed now to be very interested in Daniel. He shook his head and found the faculty to ask, "Did she tell you?" He swallowed, hard, his heart beating wildly. He was abruptly back in the observation room, talking to Pete, his heart beating the same way then as it was now while Pete told him of their break up.

"_She didn't tell you?" Pete seemed to sound surprised. Jack only shook his head, reproaching himself as he remembered Sam wanting to talk to him on several occasions - could that have been it? "I'm surprised."_

"_Why?" Pete only shrugged cryptically at his question._

"_Take care of her, General," Pete said as he walked past and left._

_Jack barely registered him leaving as he stared down at Carter and whispered to her, "Always."_

"She talked to me about it, yeah." Daniels response brought him back into reality again and he waited for an elaboration. Daniel lifted his eyebrows above his glasses and then let them relax again. "I could tell you, Jack, if that's what you really wanted."

Jack gazed at Daniel, pondering that statement. It was what he wanted, but he wasn't about to give up on the fact that Sam would tell him herself some day soon and so he resolutely told Daniel, "No, no." Daniel pursed his lips, satisfied and bowed his head, back to sorting the mess before him.

"Exactly how long has that question been nagging at you?" Daniel wondered aloud as he noted Jack was getting pensive again. Jack looked at him with an expression that showed he really wished he'd dropped it.

"Since Pete told me, the day after." This time, Jack didn't even trail; he simply stopped the sentence as if there was nothing it could've gone beyond. He quirked an eyebrow and shuffled some notes.

"Why didn't you just ask me?" Jack shrugged and Daniel pointedly stopped what he was doing, demanding an answer with unyielding eyes.

"You had enough on your mind without my personal misgivings."

"Misgivings?" Daniel raised his voice, exaggerating his surprise at the word. He would've thought anything to do with Sam and Pete breaking up had very little to do with misgivings when referenced solely to Jack personally. Jack tightened the muscles in his cheeks, avoiding Daniel's eyes and damning his brains inept ability in vocabulary. Almost as soon as he'd damned it, he decided it wasn't truly its fault, no; it was Daniel's super stocked vocabulary that should be damned. "Is that the only reason?" Daniel had obviously taken the hint that he wasn't going to bite on that particularly juicy bait. Well, juicy for Daniel anyway.

Problem was, he had picked up on the other reason Jack hadn't spoken to him about this. Or so it seemed, he at least picked up on the fact that there was something else, underlying, and it wouldn't have the slightest thing to do with his former lame answer. No, nothing at all.

_Damned vocabulary… all of them._

"I didn't want Carter to hear." There, he said it. Daniel made an 'ah' with his mouth and let it melt into an amused smile. Jack exhaled, blowing his cheeks out.

"I see. So, would this have anything to do with the way you hesitated horribly, with panicked eyes on Sam, while you answered my question about Jacob?"

"Might do," Jack winced. Now that Daniel was getting the picture, it was making him feel more ridiculous by the second.

_Yes, Daniel, I didn't want to talk about it because I keep seeing Carter's reaction to everything I say, in my head. I've finally gone nuts and you have proof!_

"Where is he, Jack?" Daniel knew, even when Jack had relayed that Jacob was on a deeply covert mission and couldn't be contacted for a while, that there was more to the story, if that had been the story at all. Jack looked up from the ground, eyelashes fluttering in an upset manner.

"He's dying, Daniel."

Daniel felt a pain shoot up into his brain and it took him a moment to connect it with the fact that he had just jerked wildly.

"Oh, God," he said, almost speechless with shock. "W-what… what…?"

Jack closed his eyes and they flew open almost instantly, his lips twitching at the distress this conversation was having on his emotions. "It's Selmak, he's been in a coma since we swatted the Replicators. The toxins were already released… there's nothing they can do."

"Does he know?" Jack nodded.

"He should've been here a few days ago but he wasn't feeling up to travelling." Daniel winced. "I think the news threw him for a loop. He only found out recently - he actually was on a mission where he was unreachable - tying up some post-war crap…" Jack was going to explain but Daniel nodded his understanding. Details weren't needed. "He's coming tomorrow." Daniel nodded.

"Poor Jacob, I can't imagine-"

"I can," Jack cut him off, knowing exactly what he was going to say. Daniel immediately berated himself for even thinking of saying it as he had a sudden flash of Jack's son, Charlie.

"I'm sorry." Jack waved a hand at him.

"She better wake up soon, Daniel. I don't want to be the one who has to tell her he's gone." Jack glanced sadly over his shoulder as he walked out. "I don't think I could handle it."

He waited until Jack was gone until he let a soft sigh fall from his lips and prayed for Sam to wake up.

* * *

"I heard you were keeping my spot warm."

Daniel smiled as he entered the infirmary and Saw Jacob propped up on the bed that he had been in just yesterday.

"I hope the grooves are to your liking. Took three weeks to put those puppies there!" He joked and Jacob chuckled lightly as Daniel came to rest in a position he had seen Jack stilted to for the past few weeks, between him and Sam. He took hold of what the Doctor had dubbed Jack's chair and swung it around to sit down.

Thinking on Jack, he was reminded of something. "Ah, Jack told me to tell you he's sorry he wasn't there to welcome you in - it's been a crazy day. He said he'd be down later."

Jacob nodded and glanced sadly to Sam. "I have no doubt," he said. "How's he taking this?"

Daniel blinked and said, "You know Jack… more importantly, how are you taking this?" He side stepped the question, feeling a few days wouldn't even scratch the surface on how Jack was taking all this.

Jacob tore his eyes away from Sam and looked at Daniel, not unaware of how he had changed the subject. "You should never have to outlive your kids," Jacob said, bowing his head and masking some of the pain in his eyes as he did.

"No, you shouldn't," Daniel agreed softly and was quietly reminded of Jack again. "But I'm sure Sam will be fine, Jacob."

"Yeah," Jacob whispered. He smiled then and said, "So, how's Jack taking it?" He smirked, letting Daniel realise that he really hadn't missed the abrupt change in subject. Daniel scratched his nose in a nervous gesture and tightened his lips across his face.

"He's been in here nearly every night I was able to count," Daniel told him, hoping he was putting it into a nutshell. Jacob nodded and his eyes drifted towards Sam again. "He just sits, reads and watches. I can't say if he's even really slept." Jacob nodded again and his head lulled back onto his pillow, imagining exactly how Jack would be. "He even talks to her." Jacob and Daniel smiled warmly together. With a little mirth still in his voice Daniel told him, "He has full blown conversations, imagining how she would reply." Jacob chuckled and Daniel found he was grinning. "I caught him trying to bribe her with blue Jell-O once." Jacob shook silently with laughter, as did Daniel at the sight of Jack waving the bowl of wobbling food under Carter's nose.

"Sounds like Jack, all right," Jacob mused, closing his eyes.

"I should let you get some rest," Daniel said, standing to leave. Pausing, he thought he should warn Jacob about something. "He doesn't like talking about her as if she wasn't there." Jacob opened his eyes and seemed to be shocked that Daniel would even insinuate he do such a thing. "In the room, I mean," he clarified and Jacob's outrage softened into understanding and finally into a smile. Daniel gave him a nod as he left.

* * *

Well, feedback, if you please? 


	17. Inescapable: Chapter 17

Inescapable Chapter 17

AN: Disclaimer and all in Chapter 1.

Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I've had programming coming out of my ears... not to mention a bit of steam, for the past week. My brain is fried so I've kept it short for now. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

"Been here long?" Jacob opened an eyelid to see Jack, as he became aware of someone in the room. Jack smiled at him. 

"Hey, Dad," Jack greeted him and Jacob grinned and threw his eyes up. He watched as Jack stole a last look at Sam and swivelled on his feet to face his bed. Jacob raised an eyebrow as he noticed Jack was wearing civvies and looking more than uncomfortable about something. "Just came in to say hi," Jack explained and Jacob nodded.

"Going home?" Jacob was surprised at this, considering what Daniel had told him. He decided a bit more small talk to relax the General would also help the ease into what would eventually be a sombre conversation.

"Yeah, got dinner plans," he smirked and shoved his hands in his pockets. Jacob closed his eyes in acknowledgment. Jack wasn't going to be anymore forthcoming, especially not about what plans he had, or rather who he had them with. "How you doing?" Jack's tone seemed to take a nose dive and although it was a stupid question to ask normally, it was Jack's way of showing his concern. He wasn't good with words, but the way he delivered certain sentences and the look in his eyes was enough - he might as well have recited the alphabet just now and Jacob still would've heard what he was really saying - or feeling.

"Good," Jacob teased and Jack raised an eyebrow at him, almost admonishing him for the joke. Jack O'Neill not wanting to joke, this was a momentous occasion. Or a grave one. Jacob sighed. They all knew how he was; nothing was going to change it. He had accepted it and hoped that everyone else would too. Talking about it would only annoy him, it would be like ignoring the fact that Sam was lying just behind Jack, remotely lifeless. Jacob grinned at the thought - reminded of what Daniel had forewarned him about. Jack's eyebrow danced a little now, wondering what exactly Jacob found amusing. "It's not important, Jack," Jacob paused and glanced at Sam, almost anticipating Jack's disagreement.

When noting came, he glanced to Jack and found him turned, gazing sadly at Sam. Jacob was filled with a relief that he had someone who understood. He would've been pressed to say it about anyone else, but he had a belief Jack knew exactly how he was feeling. And Jacob knew exactly how Jack was feeling as he was swiftly reminded of his ownwife when he caught the look in Jack's eyes while he stared quietly at Sam's bed. Jacob sighed deeply in his head. He was no fool, Jack O'Neill was in love with his daughter and Jacob was in no doubt that Sam was just as crazy about Jack. It saddened him to think that something as simple as black ink in a little rule book prevented them from sharing it with each other. Prevented Jack from really feeling the anguish that was raging wildly beneath the military demeanour he clung to and had Sam marrying another man.

"She'll be okay, Jack," Jacob whispered and Jack blinked, foggy eyes appearing from behind his lids. They moved slowly to fall on Jacob. He licked his lips and Jacob noticed the muscles in Jack's neck tighten.

"Yeah…" Was all he said before looking to the ground, hiding his eyes.

"I haven't seen Pat about," Jacob said suddenly, reminded of something. Jack's eyebrows climbed his forehead and slowly, a smile sprayed out onto his face.

"Pete," Jack corrected him with laughter.

"Whatever," Jacob replied, betraying his distaste for a man he hadn't even met. It wasn't that he didn't like him; it was just that he knew he wasn't good enough for Sam.

"He's been in a few times," Jack told him, looking away.

"Big of him, he's only marrying her…" Jacob sneered. He heard Jack take a slow deliberate breath and release it evenly.

"Carter broke off their engagement."

If Jack had been looking at him, he would've saw Jacobs eyes trying their best to dislodge themselves. But, he only heard, "Oh." A cough and, "Why?"

Jack shrugged to his question. "Daniel told me," he emphasised, hoping Jacob wouldn't question him on it any further if he thought he knew no more than he didnow.

"You have any idea why she didn't go through with it?"

Jack cursed in his head and tried to hide the sigh that passed his lips, not succeeding. He moved to look at Jacob. "No." As he watched Jacob he knew the man didn't believe him. "I guess she wasn't happy," he offered as an after thought.

"Uhuh," Jacob said.

"Jacob," Jack began, recognising that tone. "I-"

"Jack, let's not be coy about this," he reproached, getting serious. "To be honest, I was surprised this Pat-"

"Pete."

"-thing lasted as long as it did. Originally I thought she was just out to test herself." Jack frowned at him but Jacob presented no explanation. "After a while I began to think that maybe it wasn't her that she was testing."

"Jacob," Jack snapped impatiently, his hand flailing out of his pocket. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"You." Jack's lips parted and when he realised only air was forthcoming, he closed them again. "She's in love with you, Jack," Jacob told him firmly, irritated that Jack would have the audacity to play ignorant to such a thing right now. Jack glanced away uncomfortably.

"That's a popular opinion," Jack muttered, an image of Daniel flashing in his mind.

"But not yours?" Jacob wondered and Jack's eyes snapped to him.

"God, you're as bad as Daniel…" Jack grimaced and blew his cheeks out. "I guess not," he breathed. "I… Carter deserves more." An incredulous grunt came from Jacob's throat and Jack's eyes narrowed at him.

"She won't be happy with second best Jack. She never was." Jack shrugged.

"It'd be a step up from me," Jack threw at him.

"You know, if she can hear us, she'd probably be spouting something about your 'stubborn ass' right now." Jack suddenly deflated and shot his eyes to Sam, clearly frightened that she could hear them.

"With a 'sir' thrown in for good measure," Jack added, throwing his eyebrow up and glancing from Sam to Jacob. He met laughter in the older man's eyes and they both shared a chuckle.

"Don't let her settle, Jack." Jack went to Sam's bedside again as Jacob grew serious again. "Give her the man she's in love with."

Jack grunted and said, "I gotta go." Jacob glared at him, noticing a cowardice he never saw in Jack before as he slunk out the door.

* * *

Jack's eyes flew open. His heart was beating wildly, he wasn't sure why and for some reason it scared the hell out of him. He was forgetting something, something important. He blinked, feeling a bead of sweat roll down from his forehead. 

"Hey," Kerry's face floated over his head. She looked worried. Jack cleared his throat, trying to fight the haziness that was settled thickly around him. She brought a hand up to caress his cheek as she leaned over him in the bed. "You had a nightmare," she whispered, seeing the confusion in his face.

Jack relaxed a little now, letting his body melt back into the covers, moulding into their softness and Kerry's body, that was now pressed closely against him. He couldn't remember what he'd dreamt but he did know that it had been a long time since he had a nightmare, never mind one so powerful. He could still register the terror somewhere in the back of his mind, only a faint echo now, but it was still there.

"Jack?" He finally looked at her, turning his head to find his face centimetres from hers on the pillow.

"I don't remember…" he said. She gave him a faint smile but it was quickly followed by a small sigh.

"Jack, we need to talk."

* * *

Any thoughts? 


	18. Inescapable: Chapter 18

Inescapable Chapter 18

AN: Disclaimer and all in Chapter 1.

Wrote this in a hurry - no surprise there - so sorry for any spelling mistakes etc. Tiny spoilers for Threads - I've borrowed a few concepts from the eppy and messed around with them so they're not exactly like they happened in the episode but thought I'd warn ya anyway.

There was a lot of Kerry hating after the last one so I hope this helps... hehe.

* * *

Daniel shifted on his bed, groaning at the discomfiture he felt. He had been sitting in a position not unlike that which Teal'c did during Kel'No'Reem and his backside was beginning to go numb. Daniel let out a weary breath and untangled his legs, making sure the pages settled on his lap didn't fall as he did. Rubbing at a sore spot on his left leg he reminded himself that he still wasn't healed properly. 

A knock made him call out instantly, "Come in." It wasn't until it was out of his mouth that he realised what time it was and who would be knocking on his quarters at four in the morning.

"DanielJackson," Teal'c bowed his head a little as he stepped inside. Daniel smiled, having his question answered. "I hope I am not disturbing you."

"Not at all, Teal'c, come in," he beaconed Teal'c inside with a flick of his hand, sitting up on the edge of the bed and pushing the report he had been reading onto the covers behind him. Teal'c closed the door and came to stand directly in front of Daniel, his hands, classically, clasped behind his back.

"I wish to speak to you concerning Colonel Carter," Teal'c revealed calmly and Daniel nodded. "I was informed by Doctor Brightman that she has noted distinctive improvement concerning the swelling in her brain over the past week." Daniel nodded, Jack had told him earlier with much enthusiasm.

"Yeah, Jack told me. We're hoping that it's just a matter of time before she wakes up." Teal'c nodded now.

"Has he divulged his intentions regarding her father's health?"

"If you're referring to the fact that he doesn't want to tell her straight away, then yes," Daniel answered in a voice that was clearly curious as to where Teal'c was going.

"I am," Teal'c began, and then tilted his head. "Do you not believe this to be unwise?"

Daniel's eyebrows jumped up and he pushed his glasses up his nose as he took pause at his friend's statement. "Ah, no," Daniel answered as if it was the only sane answer. Teal'c's eyebrow shot up, seeming to challenge Daniel.

"If Colonel Carter uncovers in the future that we have lied to her, do you not think she will be upset?"

"Not as upset as she'd be if she wakes from a coma only to be told her father is dying!" Daniel felt a touch of anger at Teal'c's suggestion. He wasn't entirely happy with keeping Sam in the dark but it was ultimately the lesser of two evils. She would be in far too fragile a state to deal with such a horrible blow. Jack had decided and apparently so had Jacob that it was the best thing to do, who was Daniel to argue?

"Perhaps," Teal'c said as if he was imparting a whole other world of possibilities onto Daniel with that one simple word. Daniel sighed; he knew where Teal'c was coming from. He, himself had brought the topic up when Jack told him their plan but Jack's argument had been too convincing and Sam didn't need it on top of everything else right now.

"Look, Teal'c I'm not happy about lying to her, Jack's not jumping at the idea either - in fact, I think this has more to do with Jacob than anything because Jack was very short about it…" Daniel tailed off, remembering how edgy Jack was earlier.

He had called into him to make sure he was resting before he left for the night. Daniel supposed he also wanted to prove the point that he could leave the base. Unbeknownst to Jack, Daniel knew he wasn't leaving the base because he wanted to, or because he was perfectly okay with leaving Sam alone in the infirmary, simply because he wasn't leaving her alone, Jacob was there. Daniel supposed Jack felt he'd be intruding or maybe he was afraid of the questions Jacob would ask when he woke up and saw Jack still floating around Sam in the wee hours of the morning. Whatever the reason, Daniel was sure his leaving was nothing to do with meeting Kerry for dinner.

Another rap on his door brought Daniel out of his thoughts. He blinked as Teal'c opened the door and an SF stepped inside. "Sorry, Doctor Jackson… I know it's late," he rushed. "But… it's Colonel Carter."

Daniel launched off the bed and bounded past Teal'c, running down the corridor.

* * *

"Sounds serious…" Jack mumbled, rubbing his eyes and feeling awkward being so close to Kerry all of a sudden. She sighed back into her pillow. Jack regarded her as he sat up against the headboard. He had heard that sigh a lot lately, especially tonight. He had heard it when he failed to smile at her jokes during dinner. He had heard it when he reached for his seventh beer and ignored her attempts to curl beside him and do that cuddling thing that made him feel like a glorified teddy bear. And he had heard it when he slipped beneath the sheets, turned the light off and began to lightly snore, pretending to be asleep until her bedside light went out too. 

"It is." She sat up in the bed now, pulling the covers up with her and sat silently, staring at the impression her feet were making on the sheets.

Jack was also sitting rigidly. He glanced to her out of the corner of his eye and thought, _Well, this is unpleasant._ He heard her take a deep breath.

"This is kinda awkward," she began and then he saw her jump. Frowning, he was quickly aware why she had jumped when the phone rang a second time. He scrunched his eyes together and wondered if he was still dreaming. The last few moments were awfully cliché. Mumbling some curses about clichés he fumbled in the moonlight for his phone and lifted it to his ear.

"O'Neill," he barked.

Kerry turned her body and almost rolled her eyes. The one moment she would choose to bring it up, he would have to be thrown an out. She absently wondered if he hadn't made some bargain with Thor about awkward moments like this. His voice made her focus again.

"Daniel, if this is - What? - I'll be there in half an hour." The phone was thrown from him and he was out of the bed, pulling on a pair of trouser all in one motion. Kerry's head almost swirled at the dizzying motions unfolding before her.

"Jack?" She called for his attention and his head snapped up settling stunned eyes on her face, as if he had forgotten she was there.

"It's Carter," he said, lifting a shirt and disappearing out the door.

* * *

A loud thump sounded through the infirmary and Daniel turned to the door, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "Jack." 

Jack burst through the doors and strode in shouting, "Daniel, what the hell-" Words caught in his throat as he peered past Daniel's shoulder, his mouth suspended in the position it had established while he was talking. Some few steps away, Daniel was deciding that the impression he couldn't quite put his finger on was…a fish.

"Hi…" A rasp reached his ears and he blinked furiously when he heard a dry cough and, "… sir."

"Carter!" He exclaimed, finally finding his voice even if it did crack a little. Suddenly, the thought occurred to him that Daniel had been a tad vague on the phone. His head swung with murderous intentions to see his token archaeologist smiling sweetly at him. "Daniel!" He yelped. "You nearly gave me a mild heart attack! I thought-!" He couldn't voice it, he was too mad… excited… happy… relieved. He heard a giggle bubble up and his attention was swiftly returned to Carter.

"Glad to see some things haven't changed," Carter retorted amidst her giggles.

Jack pointed a finger at her as he drew closer to her bed. "No giggling, Colonel," he joked, wagging a finger and the widest grin he could at her. She only giggled more. He was at her bedside now and staring down at her, thanking God for the precious sight of her sapphire eyes sparkling up at him. "Have a nice nap, Carter?" She grinned this time and closed her eyes briefly in answer. Jack missed their blueness instantly, like a warm blanket being ripped away from him on a chilling winter night.

"She needs rest, sir." It was the doctor that was talking, or at least Jack assumed it was, he still hadn't taken his eyes off Carter… afraid that her eyes wouldn't open again as his mind was assaulted with images of her slumping through his arms, her eyes sparking and then… slipping into darkness.

"We'll be back later, Sam," Daniel promised. Her eyes fluttered open tiredly and she smiled at Daniel with a brief nod.

Jack let the breath he'd been holding out and as if she felt it, her gaze was on him and he was smiling. "Yeah, rest, Carter. It's gonna be a big party this time!"

She smiled the smile that made his skin tingle and the hairs on his body quiver. God, it was good to have it back, to have her back. He felt a relief topple through him and as he drew breath now, it was as if it were for the first time, he could hear the thump of his heart and feel the surge of warm blood through his veins, so much so, that it felt like the chains that had been suffocating his heart were melting away and… he felt alive again.

His eyes twinkled when he stole a glance at her as he hovered in the doorway. He slapped the doorframe softly. "It's good to have you back, Carter. We missed ya."

And he had.

* * *

"Yeah?" 

Jack looked up to put a face to his interruption. And he sighed. _Kerry…_

"Hey," she said timidly.

"Hey," he said, wondering why she was closing the door.

"I hear Colonel Carter is doing better." She turned from the closed door but didn't walk any closer to him. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Good news travels fast," he quipped, standing up and spreading his hands out on the paperwork in front of him. She smiled nervously at him.

"I hope she's okay," she offered. He nodded quickly to assure her.

"Yeah, nothing a little rest and some physical therapy won't sort out. She should be up kicking Goa'uld ass, blowing up suns and the like in no time." His lips quirked and when she smiled in return, he let it run freely into the grin he wanted to show.

"Jack…"

"That 'Jack' sounds awfully like the one last night," he interrupted, lacing his fingers together in front of him. Kerry glanced nervously at the floor, then quickly back up to him.

"I like you Jack," she paused at a sarcastic eyebrow.

His hands swept out in front of him and made a 'lay it on me' gesture as he said, "But…"

"But… I can't compete for your …" She winced, almost having said 'love'. "Attention." Much safer word, she decided. It would make this conversation more bearable at the least.

"Compete?" He asked and she was quietly annoyed that he seemed absolutely unruffled by this dialogue.

"I…" She faltered and pulled a face, casting her eyes about awkwardly. "…you're obviously not able to have a relationship with someone right now."

"Oh?"

She swallowed. "Someone else…" She amended.

"Ah."

"So… this isn't going to affect our working relationship right?" He shook his head. "Good." She went to the doorway, cringing at what had possibly been the most uncomfortable break-up she'd ever experienced. When her hand felt the metal of the doorknob, she heard him exhale tiredly and she turned to him.

"You know…" She started, pivoting on her foot. His head, which had been bowed into his chest, lifted up. "Is the Air Force the only thing keeping you two apart?" She twisted her face in an expression that seemed to say that if his answer was yes - he'd be crazy. Jack only raised a quiet eyebrow to her. Sometimes she really hated his unflappable persona. "Because if it is… you're making a very big mistake."

"And you know what I should do?" Here she was, implying loudly to him that she knew he was in love with his 2IC and he hadn't flinched the entire time.

"Retire."

"Again?" He said it like it was a chore.

"Don't get me wrong, the Pentagon considers you to be invaluable to the program," she began. "But the President has appointed a civilian to run the SGC before."

He continued to stare at her and she only smiled at him knowing that wheels were turning in his head. Which direction they were turning she couldn't be sure, but hopefully she had given Jack something to think about. "It's just a thought," she retorted with a smirk as she opened the door, flashed him a smile and walked out.

* * *

"Hey, sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," Daniel apologised as he set some flowers at Sam's bedside and saw her stir. She smiled groggily and made a contented noise in her throat. Daniel grinned widely at her. 

"S'okay," she mumbled as she propped herself up a little. "I think I've had enough of unconsciousness. Stay a while," she prompted him, nodding to the idle chair to his left. Daniel eyed it, and then looked back pensively to her, as if considering it. He finally grabbed the chair and sat in it.

"As long as Dr. Brightman doesn't find out," Daniel said with a little fear in his voice. "Or Jack," he added absentmindedly. Sam frowned at the statement.

"Jack?" Why wouldn't Jack want her to have visitors? Daniel, who had been staring nervously at the doorway, returned his attention to her.

"Oh," he recognised her confusion. "He's been threatened by Dr. Brightman. He's not allowed to visit you unless he goes through the Doc first." Daniel smirked wryly. Poor Jack had gotten a right earful when the Brightman had caught him watching her sleep last night. "If he finds out I was-"

"That's - Why not!" Sam spluttered, why wouldn't they let Jack see her?

"Oh I don't know… maybe because he's been physically attached to your bedside for a month and..." Daniel's eyes were returning from a wary glimpse at the door when he saw the size of Sam's eyes grow considerably. "I said that out loud didn't I?" He winced. She nodded. "Oh, boy."

"Daniel?" Daniel sighed at the 'tell me what's going on' tone in her voice.

"He's been worried about you, we all were. You know the way he gets when one of us is injured."

She thought about it, "You mean…" Her mouth hung open a little then she finished, "He's been doing the bedside thing since this happened?" Daniel nodded. "That stubborn ass!" She cursed, making Daniel do a double take. "What?" She asked indignantly, folding her arms across her chest, remembering how he would barely talk to her before she left for the mission.

"Nothing," Daniel muttered not wishing to be called anything colourful by Sam Carter himself. Besides, she was perfectly right, he was just surprised she said it so…

_Jack-like._

Daniel felt a smile tickle his lips as the thought popped into his head and he wiped it away as he saw her eyes narrow at him.

"How is he? Everybody? What have I missed?"

"Wowa!" Daniel exclaimed, his hands in the air. "I would say this is what Dr. Brightman was afraid of! You need to take it easy."

Sam huffed at him. "I wish Janet were here," she grumbled. Daniel laughed at her absurdity.

"Janet would have had me out on my ass about two minutes into - no scratch that - she'd of had me on my ass for even thinking of sneaking in here with flowers!" Sam laughed at his statement, admitting he was probably right. But at least Janet would be filling her in on what she missed - while she was holding the men at needle-point. She giggled on the thought.

"It's good to have you back, Sam," Daniel breathed, a ghost of a smile on his lips as he thought about losing Sam like they had Janet. She smiled soberly at him, realising what he was thinking.

"I'm glad you're okay," she changed the subject deftly. "If I remember correctly, you weren't in too hot a shape either." He chuckled at her and nodded.

"I'm all good," he assured her, lifting his hand and laying it atop hers for a squeeze.

"So, has anyone contacted my dad?"

* * *

"Daniel?" 

Sam's ears cocked when she heard the General's voice just outside the infirmary. Daniel had been visiting her again, this time with permission; he even brought her some blue Jell-O. Before she had even gotten to taste it, nurses were scrambling through the room, grabbing some medical equipment and rushing out. Someone was hurt. Naturally, she looked to Daniel for answers but he just gave her a staggered glance and ran out. She hadn't heard anything since.

"Do you want me to tell her?" It was Daniel's voice and for some reason it made the blood run cold inside her. Her heart began to thump in her chest.

There was a charged silence and a torn sigh, then, "No." It was General O'Neill again and his tone made her heart beat even faster. Something was really wrong.

"Jack, there's something else," Daniel was whispering now and she just made out what he was saying. "When she asked me about it earlier I panicked and told her about-"

"Daniel!" O'Neill's reprimanding voice came out strong and irritated. "Not now." She heard footsteps and the two men appeared in the room, Daniel trailing slightly behind Jack as if soaking up strength from the General just to be there.

For a moment she had wondered if it was something to do with what Daniel had told her about the General… about him and _her_. The C.I.A. agent. His girlfriend. Thinking about it made her shiver. She was certain that when Daniel had told her that he wasn't quite sure he should have and as she remembered her reaction she tried to think what issue Daniel had been side-stepping. What had she asked him? The air in the room was a little too tense for this to be about Jack's love life.

"Sir?" She asked when he just stared at her for a long moment and dropped his eyes to his boots. "What's going on?"

He grimaced, realising he would have to speak and she recognised the gesture, preparing herself for bad news. "It's your Dad, Carter," he said sadly.

Sam swallowed and managed to say, "W-what's wrong?"

Sam phased out as he began to explain about Selmak, the toxins, that Jacob was already on base and that he had taken a bad turn earlier but was stable… for now. Her already frail body was bombarded with a cacophony of emotions and yet as they raged through her, only one surfaced - a tumultuous anger. Anger directed solely towards him. It was an emotion that was almost at home when she thought of him and it was the only logical choice she could've made according to her reasoning.

Hot tears tumbled from her eyes, scalding her skin as she screamed at him. It was all his fault. Everything. And for once - she didn't give a damn about regulations; she was going to tell him what was on her mind.

She barely registered that he was simply staring at her or that Daniel was feebly trying to calm her down and she was still shouting when she realised he was gone and Daniel was cradling her in his arms, whispering softly to her.

* * *

"Hey kiddo." 

"Dad…"

Jacob smiled at Daniel as he set the brakes on Sam's wheelchair and left them alone.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked with bleary eyes.

Jacob reached out and took her hand with a regretful smile. "I'm sorry Sam; I thought we could hold out until the wedding." He noticed she glanced away abruptly, struggling with whether to tell him about Pete or not. "I hear you called it off." Her eyes snapped to him in surprise but were thankful for not having to tell him herself, she simply relented and nodded. "I was afraid you weren't happy," he confessed. "I'm certain you did the right thing."

"I'm not," she whispered, looking guiltily at their hands, now clasped together. Jacob sighed, realising that things between her and Jack were obviously strained. He suspected it, especially when she found out about his condition and he'd warned Jack about it, warned him not to take it to heart, that Sam would eventually see that he was only trying to protect her.

"It was my idea you know?" She looked up to him again, a question in her eyes. "I asked Jack not to tell you."

"He should've known better than to listen to you. He knows me well enough…" Her voice was twisted with bitterness and Jacob bit back a sigh at her obstinacy.

"Well enough to know you were too weak to have this news before now," Jacob informed her in a fatherly reproaching tone. "And well enough to know you'd hold it against him." Jacob stared evenly at her, hoping the distance in her eyes was guilt trying to creep into the foreground. "And he still did it, Sam," he said softly, even sadly.

A smile teased at the corner of her lips and she said, "I called him a lot of colourful things," she admitted and Jacob chuckled.

"So I heard. You could be court-martialled for the first few sentences alone!" Sam closed her eyes, already awash with guilt but hoping Jack would forgive her. Seeing this, Jacob told her, "He understands, Sam." When her eyes flew open and gazed quizzically at him, he added, "About a lot more than you give him credit for."

"Maybe," she agreed.

"Sam?"

"Yeah?" She said distantly.

"Promise me you'll be happy." Sam watched her father's eyes curiously, seeing something in them that she wasn't quite familiar with. "That you won't let rules stand in the way." Her eyes fluttered embarrassedly now.

"I am happy, Dad," she answered but the weakness in her voice betrayed her.

"You can still have everything you want." He leaned closer to her, letting the words hit her with a little force.

"I do, Dad," she said quickly, having an idea what he was implying. "Really," she appended, to affirm her declaration. Jacob closed his eyes and sighed softly, leaning back into the pillows and relenting to just being glad that she was with him.

* * *

Busy chapter eh? Well, I hope you liked it! 


	19. Inescapable: Chapter 19

Inescapable: Chapter 19

AN: Disclaimer and all in Chapter 1. Sorry this took so long and that it's so short… I got distracted and unfortunately, I'm very easily distracted!

* * *

"Earth calling Jack!" Jack's head snapped up from a daze to see Daniel leaning against his doorframe, grinning. When he frowned at him, Daniel unfolded his arms and stepped inside. "You look like you're on another planet," Daniel said as he slumped into a seat. Jack took a deep breath and raised his eyebrows as he pushed the paperwork in front of him to the side.

"I guess I was," Jack said quietly, looking back up.

"You okay?" Daniel asked suspiciously, tapping his thigh with his hand.

"Fine," Jack answered quickly with a flippant smile.

Daniel studied Jack closely and something occurred to him and he boldly said, "She broke up with you, didn't she?"

"What?" The alarm in Jack's eyes was all that Daniel needed to see. He smirked and held Jack's stare, daring him to argue.

The older man just sighed and dropped his eyes. "Yeah, few days ago - how…" He looked up quickly, suddenly curious. "How did you know?"

"You get this look about you when you have woman troubles," he shrugged.

Jack's mouth twisted in a crooked grin and his eyes twinkled as he thought about that and considering what Daniel knew about him, that it was an entirely fallible answer.

"Daniel," he began with a contradictory tone. "I always have woman troubles. Indefinitely, these days, in fact."

Jack watched several emotions run across Daniel's face and then he saw his expression fall when he realised his mistake. Jack raised a quizzical eyebrow, waiting for Daniel to explain. Daniel sighed, defeated.

"You haven't been in to see Sam in a few days."

"I've been busy."

Daniel snorted, laughed and said, "Yeah, and Sam's been doing back flips out of her bed."

"Daniel…"

"I know I'm right…"

"About what? So you're right that I haven't been in to see Carter but do you think it could possibly have somethingto do with the fact that she screamed me out of the room the last time I saw her?" Jack argued sarcastically, getting riled up with whatever crazy theory Daniel had concocted.

Daniel was shaking his head, anger stealing into his features mildly. "Jack," he breathed. "You know she didn't mean that, so don't give me that BS."

"Daniel," Jack warned with hard eyes.

"You're afraid she'll ask you about Kerry now that she knows and you're even more afraid that you'll end up telling her that Kerry dumped you because you're in love with her."

"What?" Jack leaned forward, his hands supporting his tense form on the desk.

"You heard me."

"Oh, I heard you," Jack began with dangerous eyes. "What I'm wondering is if you lost a little sanity when you got that blow to the head."

"Things were fine when you had Kerry - she was a buffer," Daniel continued, ignored his jibe. "You didn't have to worry about your feelings for Sam, or at least you felt you didn't have to acknowledge them when you had Kerry."

"You're nuts, Daniel."

"So you keep telling me," Daniel said quickly, waving a dismissive hand at Jack. "Now she's gone and so is Pete," Daniel continued, seeing Jack swallow and cast his eyes away, probably wishing he hadn't pushed the paperwork away earlier. After a moment of silence he said quite sadly, "You love her Jack and you've just run out of reasons not to tell her."

Jack looked at him slowly, blinking a few times and glancing at his desk before he said, "Except for how she feels," he whispered.

"You know how she feels, Jack," Daniel sighed with exasperation.

"You know, all these assumptions are getting old - really damn fast."

"Can you honestly tell me, that after everything you've been through with her… after _everything… _that you think she feels nothing for you?" Daniel countered; a harsh edge to his voice as he straightened in his seat, preparing for an argument. When Jack didn't answer he went on, "Beyond that, Jack, you don't strike me as the diffident type. You're not afraid of what she'd say even if you didn't already know the answer."

"There are rules, Daniel," Jack said knowing Daniel was getting dangerously close to the truth.

"You were born to break rules, Jack," Daniel rolled his eyes in irritation. "It's what you do."

"Not that one."

"Why not?"

"Because."

"Because you're afraid." Daniel pointed out. "You're afraid that you'll get exactly what you've dreamt of for eight years… hell, less specifically, for your entire life."

Jack smiled patronisingly at him. "Even if I knew what you were talking about, I'm sure I'd disagree."

Daniel narrowed his eyes and when it caused his glasses to fall down his nose slightly, he pushed them back up as he remembered something Jack had said to him last month. He smiled, almost absurdly as it occurred to him. "You think you're not good enough for her…" Daniel said, squinting and bewildered by his revelation. "You're afraid you'll hurt her. That's-" Daniel took pause and fought with the urge to laugh. "That's why you talked her into marrying Pete. God, Jack," Daniel said firmly, clearly amused by the ridiculousness of Jack's mind. "I never knew you were such a coward."

"Daniel!" Jack protested with an angry shout. The man had just unveiled his deepest fear and then laughed at it. He was having no more. "That's enough!"

"Tell me I'm wrong." Daniel declared cockily.

"You really are crazy, Daniel."

"It would seem that you're the crazy one, Jack." Daniel got out of his seat and sighed sadly at Jack, shaking his head. "She needs you right now, Jack." He told him gently, raising an eyebrow. "I came here to tell you that Jacob just passed away." Jack's head whipped to Daniel, grief suddenly wrestling behind wide eyes. "And for what it's worth… she misses you too."

Jack fell back into the cushioning of his seat, feeling drained, when Daniel walked out. He winced and rubbed his temples, he was getting a headache. Listening to Daniel, no doubt, was the cause. He grunted with a weak amusement as he admitted it was more like listening to Daniel talking reason. He had to admit - if not to Daniel - to himself, that his friend was abundantly correct and the more Jack O'Neill could barely be labelled a coward by most people, most people only took into account the fact that he was willing to sacrifice his own life above anything, anyone. He wasn't in the habit of putting someone else in harms way. It didn't matter to him if it was in the way of a Goa'uld staff weapon or potential heartbreak. In fact, he knew, from experience, that the latter was much more difficult to endure.

He would bear a thousand blasts from a staff weapon before he would watch Sam Carter's heart break.

* * *

"Uh… sorry," Jack stumbled when he walked into the infirmary, seeing Carter nestled beside her father's bedside. "I'll come back later." He whirled on his feet to leave.

"Sir," Carter said, a little disorientated. Her voice made him stop and he glanced back at her, recognising the scratchy voice as tiredness. She looked at him now, blinking her eyelids over glossy sapphire eyes that were gleaming in a way that made his heart constrict. A small smile played with her lips and she implored him, "Stay." He regarded her uncertainly, offering a quick glance at Jacob's lifeless body. "Please," she added, sensing his apprehension.

Jack gave a curt nod, stuffed his hands in his pockets and went to get a chair so he could sit by her.

"I'm sorry, Carter," he said inaudibly and she averted her eyes to her father, taking a steadying breath. "How are you doing?"

"Good." He raised an eyebrow at her and she flashed a self-conscious smile at him. "As strange as that sounds I really am. He should've been dead four years ago. In those four years I've grown closer to him than I ever thought I could," she explained. "In a way, Selmac gave me the father I always wanted."

"Yes, well," Jack began in that 'get ready for a bad joke' tone. "He did have a way with controlling Dad's temper," he quipped and smiled, seeing a grin break out on her face. She dropped her eyes, still faintly smiling and he kept attentive eyes on her, wanting to throw his arms around her and kiss her troubles away. He wanted to give her what Jacob had asked of him. "C'mere," he said instead and tucked his arm around her, pulling her close, hoping his nearness would say what he could never hope to with words.

"Thank you, sir," she whispered.

Jack watched as her eyes took her off somewhere else as she stared at Jacob. He was feeling like he shouldn't be here, as if he was intruding - surely she needed to be alone with him right now. Then why did he feel compelled to stay?

"For what?" The words slipped out as if they were inevitable and he looked upon her as if had been the most natural thing to say. She shifted her eyes to look at him.

"For being here for me," she told him, the sincerity of her words marked fiercely by the appreciation in her eyes.

He stared at her, quietly stirred by what her words conveyed. What could he say to that? I don't deserve it, but I'll try to do better? No. Carter deserved more. More than him. And for a start, he would promise it to her, promise he would do all he could for her.

"Always," he breathed with the same depth she had startled him with. Suddenly having the need to feel him against her in any way, she grabbed the hand that he had lain on her shoulder, gave it a squeeze and pressed her cheek to it.

Sam took a soothing breath of his scent and felt it install strength and hope inside her. Strength to endure the loss of her father and hope in the small word he whispered that meant so much to her.

* * *


	20. Inescapable: Chapter 20

Inescapable: Chapter 20

AN: Disclaimer and all in Chapter 1. I know this was a long time coming so I humbly apologise! Anywho, hope you like it!

* * *

"Sam?" 

Sam turned her head slowly with a small smile as Daniel's concerned voice broke into her reverie. She turned back and let her head drop as a sigh escaped her lips. Daniel was soon beside her, sitting on the step outside Jack's door. She had gotten out of the infirmary yesterday and the guys had insisted on a party. So here she was beer in hand, charred meat in her gut and far too many thoughts in her head. Daniel offered her the spare beer he had brought out with a swipe of the bottle in front of her nose. She shook her head, she had barely finished the last one Jack had given her.

"Everything ok?" He asked after a moment's silence, lifting his eyebrows above his glasses in a classic 'fretting Daniel' gesture. They would stay raised like that until she answered him; she knew this without having to look. Another quiet smile pulled at her lips as she nodded.

"It's just weird to be…" she let the sentence die off, lost on what she wanted to say.

"Back?" Daniel suggested, setting his beer down on the step beside him.

Sam's eyes grew sad and then she looked at him and said, "…here."

"At Jack's?" Daniel questioned with a furrowed brow.

"No… not…" She sighed and shook her head. "I guess I wasn't really talking physically."

"Ah."

"Pete's gone. Dad's gone and…"

"And?" She glanced at him and smiled shyly, bowing her head again. "Sam," Daniel said softly and placing a hand lightly on her knee.

"I… I just don't… agh!" Her frustrated cry would normally coax a smile from him, but now he only frowned at it.

"Jack?" He saw her eyes shift though she was trying to hide her reaction. "Jack," he said, now sure he was right and saving her the bother of answering. Daniel sighed as he heard Jack mouthing off about something to Teal'c inside. He had left them watching Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. "You know he loves you," he reminded her and her head moved slightly away from him.

Sam exhaled noisily. "Almost."

"What?" Daniel asked, not sure he heard her whisper.

"Almost," she said, trailing reluctant eyes to look at him. "He knows how I feel, Daniel," she said with a resigned breath. "I need him…"

"And he's not being here for you is he?" Daniel finished, a touch of anger towards Jack in his voice already.

"No," she retorted with haste. "No, he's… he has really helped since Dad died." Her eyes dropped to her lap again as they heard a disgusted yell coming from Jack.

"But?" Daniel sensed there was one.

"But," she said softly into her lap. "Not in the way I really need him."

"Have you told him this?"

She shook her head. "Not in so many words, but from the terrified dance his eyes make every time I hint at it... he knows." She laughed gently and let air burst from her with a soft hiss. "I know it's not fair to ask so much from him-" Daniel snorted but she ignored him. "It's just I've finally realised what I really want… and that I guess… I won't really be happy with anything less."

"Sam-"

"Hey, you two - it's getting cold out here," Jack said, sticking his head out the door. "Come inside and save me from Teal'c and his freaky movies."

Sam smiled sadly and nodded, lifting herself tiredly off the step, Daniel offering her a supportive hand as he gathered himself and his beer as well. They followed Jack inside to see they had missed a bit of the movie already. As they settled into the couch and Jack threw Sam another beer, Daniel shot Sam a look that said 'we'll talk later' while absently directing a scowl at Jack.

"He," Jack began, pointing a finger and pulling an appalled expression at Luke Skywalker. "Kissed his sister!" Jack yelped and Sam and Daniel rolled their eyes. "That's just wrong," he went on. "I mean - isn't this supposed to be a family movie?"

"I believe it is PrincessLeiah that, in fact, kissed LukeSkywalker," Teal'c interjected with an eyebrow.

"Technicality," Jack mumbled. "It's still twisted." He argued.

"Yeah, twisted," Daniel said under his breath.

"Excuse me?"

"Just watch the movie, Jack."

* * *

"Hey, I got that," Jack said quietly, deftly swiping the rubbish bag from Carter's grasp, careful not to disturb Daniel and Teal'c who had turned in for the night. Carter shot him an irritated expression and sighed audibly. Jack raised an eyebrow at her as he bent to lift the beer bottles she had intended to collect. "Why don't you go to bed?" He suggested concern for her health in his tone. 

Carter looked away from him quickly, guarding something in her eyes that made him stop his tidying.

_Great, cue awkward 'topic'… _Jack thought. Carter had been hinting to him for a while that she wanted to talk about their 'situation' or lack thereof and he was running out of ways to dance around the subject. He had a feeling she was about to confront him about it; he had seen that look in her eyes - a look of a woman shed of fear. It scared him to death. He knew if she actually came out and said what was playing in her eyes that he wouldn't be able to refuse her, he'd throw his heart at her mercy, drop the SGC, the world, just for her. It terrified him to realise how much he felt for her, hurt him to think it wasn't enough for her.

"Jack…"

_Oh boy…_

"It was a good party, eh?"

The only answer he got was a sigh as she slumped against the counter letting her chin fall into her chest.

"First time Danny actually went to bed instead of someone hauling his unconscious ass onto the bed." He laughed and reached for another bottle. He was doing a good job of ignoring how sad she looked, right?

"I know what you're doing." She spoke so lowly, Jack wasn't sure he'd heard it so he froze, waiting for something else. When nothing came, he glanced up and as he made contact with her pained, shimmering sapphire eyes the air around him seemed charged and the room blurred as if a think fog had set around it and she was the only thing keeping it at bay.

He walked slowly, purposefully over to her, realising that he must've dropped the bag when he heard her whisper. "Carter…" He stopped two feet short of her and her eyes flinched at her name as he looked at his feet, searching for the right words, any words.

"Don't," she said forcefully with such distaste that his head snapped up and he set bewildered eyes upon her. "At least give me the courtesy of using my actual name, Jack. This isn't some mission you're telling me you can't approve."

Jack felt his insides twist, he hadn't meant that, he just wasn't used to calling her Sam and he was nervous, hell, he hadn't felt this nauseous in a long time and his brain never did work well when his stomach was at war in some way or another.

"Sam…" he breathed, looking back up at her and his cheek muscles flinched at the expression she wore. She was preparing to be shot down and it made his heart ache.

"I'd quit, Jack." She said simply, now that she finally had eye contact. He needed to know she meant it. His eyes smiled sadly at her. He knew she meant it.

"I'd never ask you to do that," he told her. Sam's heart skipped a beat, remembering Prometheus.

"Because you don't feel anything for me?" She stared into his eyes, determined to seek the truth, anxious for his answer. She was laying it out, all he had to do was decide how to pick it up.

"You know…"

"Do I?" She asked harshly. "Every time I try to tap into what I think is there - you shut me out with some cryptic answer that means absolutely nothing to me!" Her face was getting flushed and Jack was becoming increasingly apprehensive with the more she said. He was not tailored for these types of situations. "It figures that the only time Jack O'Neill chooses to be cryptic and leave us all pondering the undertones it would be at a time like this."

"Sam," he closed his eyes wearily.

"If you told me you felt nothing, I'd drop it right now."

"Just like that?"

"No, but it would be a starting point. You have me running in circles, Jack," she told him, her broken voice telling of the toll it really had taken on her. "I've gone way beyond dizzy and I don't think I'll be able to pick myself up if I fall again. Not now. Not after everything." Tears were shinning in her eyes and his resolve was breaking. His fingers were twitching to wipe at the tear that had just escaped over her cheek, his arms longing to gather her to him, his lips craving to kiss away her doubt. "So go on then…" She swiped a hand between them as more tears added to the streak on her cheek. "Tell me you don't love me and finish this."

Jack looked at her, his dark eyes wrestling with his conscience. He couldn't watch her like this; he couldn't hurt her like this.

"I can't do that…" he whispered, not taking his eyes off her. A sob escaped her and she flung her body around, her head dipping as a few strangled cries escaped her.

He was beside her in moments, his arms sliding over her shoulders; his chest pressing into her and his hands took hold of her as pulled her back to him. He turned her and she clung hungrily to him, pushing her face into the crook of his neck, her nails feverishly clawing at the fabric of his shirt as if she could pull his whole being inside of her.

"Why?" She implored him, between laboured hitches of her breath. "Do you love me?" She sniffed at his silence and continued, more steadily, "Answer me."

"…more than you can imagine, Sam." She seemed to stop breathing for far too long, so he pulled his head away a little to look down at her. Her eyes turned up to him as she felt his gaze.

"Then why can't we-"

"Because I don't want to hurt you..." He grimaced, letting the sentence float off, wondering just when exactly his brain was going to catch up with his mouth. When had he decided to tell her that little tid-bit?

She blinked, pulled her head up level with his and searched his eyes. "You couldn't," she told him resolutely.

"I'm not enough, Sam," His eyes moved with frustration and they darkened as he thought about continuing. "You deserve so much more. You need so much more."

Her tears were back again, falling silently as she gazed at him, stricken by his words. Her hand moved fluidly to his cheek and she smiled sombrely as her fingers trailed along the skin of his jaw line, her nails tickling at the stubble it wore. "I need _you_, Jack." His lips parted and he sucked in a breath and her fingers moved swiftly over his lips, silencing him. "I couldn't settle for anything less and there is nothing more - I love you too much."

She felt air pass her fingers as he took a sharp breath. She let them fall back to his jaw and when she was satisfied he was going to say no more her fingers curled along it and gave his head a gentle nudge toward her. She watched his lips as the thumping of her heart grew so powerful she felt as if her body was shaking with each pump it made. Her eyes lingered a moment as his lips hovered mere centimetres from hers then she flicked them up to watch his eyes, to make sure this is what he wanted. They slipped close before she had time to decide. The softness of his lips pulled at hers and sent a quiver coursing through her, tickling all the way down to her toes. He pulled her closer, wanting more as he pressed his lips more firmly and she responded by melting into his arms and wrapping her own around his neck, tangling a hand in unruly tufts of his silver hair and trailing hotly over the skin of his neck with the other.

She felt his fingers dig gently into her as his tongue teased at her lower lip and she was sure she felt a smile trickle through the kiss when she gasped at the sweet assault allowing his tongue to slip inside to softly and slowly dance with hers. He tasted of coffee and Jack and she felt a moan illicit, unbridled deep in her throat. His hand found its way into her hair and the other pressed her backwards into the support of the counter. His teeth bit tenderly on her lower lip and she barely had time to revel in the feeling it erupted when his tongue darted quickly over her top lip and her moan was muffled as he devoured her mouth eagerly again. Feeling a little vertigo Jack began to unwind the passion of the kiss by gradually nipping and teasing her lips, slower and slower until her lips pulled against his one last time and he opened his eyes, missing the softness of them already. Slowly, Sam took a deep, tempered breath willing her heart to still as her eyelids opened lazily to see Jack smiling widely at her. She flashed a bashful smile back at him and whispered, "Wow."

"Yeah…" he agreed, cupping his head around the nape of her neck and pulling her close to him again.

"So…" He smiled at her coyness and kissed her hair, inhaling her scent without guilt.

"We can talk tomorrow, Sam." He raked his fingers through her hair as she leant her head to his chest.

"Then you're…"

"Not going to fight it anymore," he confessed and he felt her grip tighten on him. His chest moved with silent laughter. "I don't even think I could if I wanted to after that kiss." He felt, rather than saw her smile.

"What about…?"

He knew she was worried about the rules they had broken in the sweetest manner just now. "Have I told you that my knees have been giving me grief lately?" He grinned when her baffled face rose up to stare at him. "I think it's time they went on a fishing trip, don't you?" She pulled out of his arms slightly, narrowing her eyes with mirth at him.

"Jack?"

"A _very long_ fishing trip?" A smile broke out on her face.

"Only if it's what you want."

"Oh," he said, gazing deeply into her eyes and grazing her lips with his thumb. "It's definitely what I want," he assured her. "But like I said, we'll talk about it tomorrow." He untangled himself from her and laced his fingers into hers. "Right now - I know a doctor that has given me strict orders to make sure you take it easy."

"Jack," she started, protesting.

"To bed with you!"

"The spare is full," she countered, knowing Daniel and Teal'c were in there.

"I'll take the couch. You can have my bed." Her lips parted to argue and he lifted a hand into the air. "Don't argue, Carter. Remember, I'm still your CO." He glanced over his shoulder as she dragged behind him. "For now." He knew he could get a grin out of her. "Now." He opened the door, flicked the light switch and lightly gave her a shove inside. "Sleep."

"Yes, sir," she teased, grinning like an idiot. He rolled his eyes as she waved two fingers in a mock salute. "Goodnight, Jack."

"Night, Sam," he whispered, his eyes twinkling as he pulled on the door. When he had it halfway closed, he pushed it open a little again. "Sam?"

She turned around, eyebrows raised.

"If I wake up tomorrow and realise this didn't happen…" She smiled curiously at him. "You have permission to do that kiss all over again." His eyebrow danced up and down suggestively and she giggled at it.

"Sweet dreams, Jack."

He closed the door and skipped down to the living room, "Oh, they will be…"

* * *

Any thoughts? 


	21. Inescapable: Chapter 21

Inescapable: Chapter 21

AN: Disclaimer and all in Chapter 1. I'm really sorry for the huge delay in this chapter but I'm in the middle of my final year exams! I won't be finished for a few weeks so I'll try to update soon again but I can't make any promises!

* * *

"You're up early," Sam said as she pottered into the kitchen barefoot and still in her pyjamas and saw Daniel fussing over a newspaper and a cup of coffee. Daniel lifted his eyebrows as he lowered the paper and his cup, flashing a grin at her.

"Morning," he said, a curious edge to his expression. "Yeah, it tends to help when I don't get smashed the night before." He eyed Sam watchfully as she yawned and headed for the pot of coffee he had made and also nearly finished. She was presently grinning at his remark; it wasn't very often he stayed sober at one of their team parties or that he admitted to it. Of course, he would never have said that in front of Jack.

As he thought about Jack his attention went acutely back to Sam who was now frowning over the coffee pot, holding it in the air and studying its contents. Guilt bubbled up and he shot his eyes down to his paper as he felt her head turning to him.

"Daniel," she started. "Exactly how long have you been up?" She waved the coffee pot at him, almost devoid of the smooth black liquid she had expected to find there. Daniel flicked his eyes up and shrugged at her. He heard her give a sigh that he knew was accompanied by a roll of her eyes as she went to make more. "Jack will kill you if he finds out you devoured-" Sam stopped abruptly when she glanced at Daniel and found his gaze riveted on her. The words meaning to come out of her mouth died and she forgot what she was saying. Why the hell was he staring at her like that? He was poised like somebody had dropped Hathor in his lap, the paper was crumpling in his tight grip and his coffee cup was floating mid air, only halfway towards his mouth, simply forgotten. And his eyes, his eyes… were they throbbing? It was an insane thought, but it really did appear if his eyes were… well, throbbing.

She was just about to voice her concern for him when he blinked and she was distracted by another set of bare feet slapping at the tiled floor. "Yeesh," Jack complained as his toes were assaulted by the coolness of the tiles. He glanced down at them, peering from beneath his pyjama bottoms and wiggled them a little as if in apology. He looked up to see Carter and Daniel staring at him. He threw his eyebrows up and shot a smile at them. "Morning kiddies!" He chirped causing Daniel to blink again. Jack missed it however as his smile and his entire awareness was currently concentrated on Carter who was smiling sheepishly back at him.

"Morning," Sam said quietly and turned back to the coffee making, still smiling.

Daniel's brow knitted and he idly set the paper and his cup down as he watched Jack. "Yeah," he said with a stretch to his words that normally highlighted to those around him how confused he was. "Morning." His lips tightened as no one took him on. Sam had her back turned to him, busying herself with the coffee and Jack was almost hopping across the cold floor towards the fridge.

When Jack pulled a few items from the fridge he moved for the bread, resting beside Sam and mumbled something about coffee to her. Daniel strained to hear but they had stopped talking and Sam was side-glancing at Jack while he pulled bread from its wrapping. Somehow, even though Jack wasn't looking, Daniel saw a tiny smile creep in the corner of his lips as he tilted his head.

Daniel divided quick bewildered glances between the two of them, his mind furiously trying to work out what was wrong. For something was very, very wrong.

_Or different. Definitely different, _Daniel thought decidedly. _Jack is smiling. In the morning. Making breakfast. Barefoot. And smiling. Jack. Smiling. In the morning. _

Daniel almost fought the urge to glance around and look for aliens. This had to be some warped version of reality. Had he woken up in another alternate reality? He found himself looking for more signs that things were different and his eyes rested on Sam. Oh, yes… she was definitely different. Not a doctor. She was Sam. But Sam was different.

_She called him Jack. Casually. Just Jack. In a sentence. A general, everyday, sentence. Jack._

Maybe she was a doctor. There was no engagement ring though. So, where were the aliens?

Jack never smiled in the morning. It had happened occasionally when …

_Wait…_

And Sam only ever used Jack's name when…

_Oh._

Daniel blinked. And blinked. And blinked some more.

"Daniel?" Daniel winced, his mind in knots as his puzzled, shocked eyes phased back into the room to see Jack mauling a piece of toast and slurping at coffee with a touch of irritation in his expression. He waved the toast at Daniel as he tore it from his teeth. "Heloooo!" He called. Daniel blinked again and then Sam was at Jack's side, giggling softly. Daniel watched as the two of them seemed to gravitate towards each other as they rested against the counter beside him. "Daniel!" Jack barked.

"What?" Daniel matched his bark, annoyed for the interruption to the processing his mind was falling over.

"Do you want toast?" Jack repeated with a hint of sarcasm and a little miffed at the tone Daniel had taken.

Daniel frowned again and said flatly, "No." But remained staring at Jack, glancing cautiously to Sam as Jack raised his eyebrows and moved away from the grouchy archaeologist.

"I think I like him better when he wakes up with a hangover." He heard Jack say just before Sam's laughter floated back to him as she followed him into the living area, a coffee in her possession.

Daniel stared after them for a while. Had they? Could they? He wished he had checked to see if there actually had been someone sleeping in the living room this morning - he had decided not to go in as he was up horribly early and didn't want to wake anyone. Damn, he wished he had of. He needed to know. He grabbed his now lukewarm coffee and almost dashed after the objects of his frustration.

They had been speaking in a hushed manner and stopped when he stepped inside. Things were getting weirder by the second and Daniel paused at the end of the couch, staring dumbfounded at them. This was excruciating. Jack looked up at him and Sam's eyes soon followed. They both had ridiculous grins plastered on their faces. Daniel started blinking again, his eyes showing signs of an impending aneurism.

Finally, after a long moment of silence and a lot of staring, Jack spoke, "What?" He asked, querying Daniel's behaviour.

"_What_?" Daniel asked incredulously. There was no way Jack O'Neill had no idea why he was looking at the two of them like they had just spawned a few Goa'uld.

"You okay, Daniel?" Sam. He glanced at her, his eyes growing.

"Am _I_ okay?"

"As funny as you're parrot impression is Daniel… and at the risk …" Jack sighed and shook his head, then asked again, pointedly, "What?"

"You're," Daniel pointed at the two of them. "Asking _me _what?"

"Yes." Jack was taking on that 'Daniel, shut up and stop pissing me off' tone. "I'm asking you - _what_?"

"What?" It flew out of Daniel's mouth in frustration.

"What? What?"

"Jack!" Daniel snapped, throwing his hands in the air.

"Relax, Spacemonkey, before you sprain something," Jack said indifferently and smiling at Sam's amusement. Daniel was boring holes in his head with his eyes but Jack didn't give a damn and whatever his wound up companion had been about to launch into was interrupted by Teal'c entering the house, stopping right beside Daniel. He bowed his head to them all in greeting.

"Morning, T!" Jack beamed. "Coffee?"

"I do not require it," Teal'c said.

Sam noticed Daniel blinking again as his face grew redder by the seconds. The poor man was about to blow.

"How was your run?"

"It was energising."

"Of course it was!"

"Sam?" Daniel in his desperation sounded like he was imploring something from her. She smiled gently at him and felt sorry for him - she knew Jack was taunting him and enjoying it far too much. She listened absently as Jack barraged Teal'c with a set of questions aimed at annoying and ignoring Daniel all at once. They had been talking quietly before Daniel came in about how they would proceed with what happened last night and fishing had come up again and how much, or rather little, fishing they had planned to do on the trip. She grinned wickedly.

"How do you feel about a fishing trip, Daniel?"

The room suddenly went silent, so silent in fact, that the blurred motion of Jack's head whipping towards Sam nearly sounded like a whistle.

"Carter?"

"Sir?"

Daniel didn't know what she'd done, but Jack wasn't particularly happy about it and Daniel was suddenly very happy about it.

"I think I'd feel quite happy, actually," Daniel replied, smugly and smiling tightly at Jack.

Jack's lips parted as a glint shone in Sam's eyes. He was sooooo gonna get her for that.

* * *

Again I apologise for the shortness, but as anyways feedback is welcome.


	22. Chapter 22

Inescapable: Chapter 22

AN: Disclaimer and all in Chapter 1.

Apologies for the major delay in this things have been far too hectic for me recently to even think up another chapter never mind write one so please, forgive me! And of course I hope you enjoy the story. I'm adding on the end of the last chapter to remind people of what happened last as its been so long since I updated.

* * *

"How do you feel about a fishing trip, Daniel?"

The room suddenly went silent, so silent in fact, that the blurred motion of Jack's head whipping towards Sam nearly sounded like a whistle.

"Carter?"

"Sir?"

Daniel didn't know what she'd done, but Jack wasn't particularly happy about it and Daniel was suddenly very happy about it.

"I think I'd feel quite happy, actually," Daniel replied, smugly and smiling tightly at Jack.

Jack's lips parted as a glint shone in Sam's eyes. He was sooooo gonna get her for that.

* * *

"What the hell?" Jack swore vehemently under his breath and just… just resisted the urge to slam his hand through his mockingly shiny desk. Instead he exhaled nosily through his nostrils and glared at it, narrowing his eyes and marking a date in its future for some defacing. It gleaned at him as if it was taunting him. It knew where the letter was. It sooo knew! Hadn't he left it on that very spot this morning? He went over in his head what he had done that morning.

_Came to work… had a coffee… stole Daniel's doughnut… hid Walter's appointment diary… wrote letter of resignation and set it on this very spot before I went to say 'hi ho' to SG-5._

He remembered writing the letter and he distinctly remembered leaving it tidily on the desk in front of his chair, giving it a jovial tap before he strolled on out.

"Goddamn walking documents!" He scowled. "Why can't I loose Daniel's like this?"

"Loose my what?"

Jack whipped his head up and threw an irritated glance at Daniel before checking under his desk for the tenth time already. As he did so he muttered something that Daniel couldn't quite hear but was certain was some sort of smart remark. Daniel rolled his eyes.

"Jack?" Daniel wondered aloud as he folded his arms and strolled on into the office, tilting his head to try and see what he was up to.

"What?" Came a bark, soon followed by a bang and a string of curses. Daniel muffled a laugh under his hand as Jack emerged rubbing his head, ruffling his hair, making himself appear even more ridiculous.

"As much as I really don't care anymore… but… what are you doing?" He asked, not hiding his amusement and happy that he had gotten sufficient satisfaction from this, so much so that he wasn't going to bother bringing up his doughnut going AWOL this morning.

"Looking for something," Jack replied grumpily, casting his eyes around him in the case that it had fallen to the floor and was kicked about the room.

"Your mind perhaps?" Jack threw Daniel a withering look and Daniel raised his eyebrows in response.

"Had to be Walter," Jack said to himself while Daniel watched him interestedly as he pulled himself from the floor with some effort and fell into his seat with a sigh. "This is revenge for stealing that godforsaken book."

"You stole what?" Jack's eyes found Daniel at his question.

"That infuriating huge black book that he always has when he trots in merrily to tell me I have another stuffed up, shit spouting-"

"-I get the picture," Daniel interrupted with a short wave of his hand.

"Daniel?" Jack looked at him fully and narrowed his eyes, his forehead creasing in question. "What are you doing in here anyway?"

"What did you loose?" Daniel ignored his question, knowing that when he eventually got around to pressing Jack about this would-be fishing trip that he was going to be out on his ass very soon after.

"A very important document," Jack told him, looking back down at his desk and clasping his eyes shut, willing the letter to appear magically before him. He opened them again to see the bare surface staring back at him. He swore it was trying to look innocent. "Damn letter eating desk…" he growled.

Daniel's brow furrowed and his eyebrows knitted as he blinked a few times wondering that maybe, just maybe, Jack really had lost his mind. He licked his lips and asked, "Don't you try to loose as many of those as possible?"

"Not this one." Jack didn't even bother to counter Daniel's accusation.

"You saved it, right?" Daniel said, unfolding his arms and walking closer to the bemused General. "Just print…" Daniel tailed off as he caught the look in Jack's eyes. "You didn't save it," he stated in an almost fatherly exasperated tone.

"It wasn't like I was going to need it again!" Jack protested, flailing his hand at Daniel in his defence.

"A very important document?" Daniel repeated slowly, almost teasingly.

"This _particular _one is only needed once." Daniel smirked and Jack could see the response to that on his tongue. "Don't!" He ordered. "So not in the mood, Daniel. Seriously."

"What happened to 'happy Jack'?" Daniel asked still with a smirk as he sat down.

Jack's eyes flicked to him and intended to throw a sarcastic remark at Daniel but his mind was filled with thoughts of writing another letter of resignation. He had done it a few times, and with reasons that made it not so much easy but essential at the time, perhaps for the wrong reasons and so he wondered why now, why when his reason was as good as it could ever hope to be, why it was so hard to write?

"Any particular reason you're getting up my nose this afternoon, Spacemonkey, or do you just enjoy it up there?" Daniel scrunched his nose in distaste at Jack's metaphor while Jack wiggled two insisting eyebrows at him.

"Actually," Daniel began, now was as good a time to leave as any. "I was wondering when this fishing trip is taking off." Jack's eyes narrowed to slits and Daniel felt the urge to lift himself from the seat. "I mean, I know you like to be organised for fishing and I was just -"

"Daniel?"

"Yeah?"

Jack pointed to the open doorway and Daniel followed his finger and glanced out, turned his head and looked back at Jack. Jack's face grew hard and appeared to be getting a rosy shade of angry. Daniel bit on his lip and as Jack bared his teeth, the archaeologist fled from the office faster than dust shooting up his nose.

* * *

"I really don't know, sir."

"Walter, this is not a joke…"

"I didn't take it, sir. Perhaps you placed it somewhere else and forgot?"

"Are you telling me I'm senile as well as wrong here Sergeant?"

"Sir, I-"

"O'Neill," Teal'c bowed his head a touch at both Jack and the visibly squirming Walter. He smiled a little in response to Walter's pleading eyes.

"One moment, T," Jack held up a hand. "It was on my desk, right here." Jack slapped his hand hard on the desk and while Walter flinched, Teal'c raised a curious eyebrow. "I know I didn't touch it. I left it all neat and crisply here." Teal'c did a Teal'c grin at Jack's phrase and listened on with interest. "Now unless some letter eating aliens have invaded the base in the last few hours, no one else comes into my office when I'm not here!"

"SG-1 come here quite frequently, O'Neill," Teal'c reminded him.

"Bah!" Jack flicked his wrist at the useless information. "None of you would…" Jack tailed off and his eyes phased out of the room momentarily. "He wouldn't…" He whispered in thought then glanced to Teal'c with panicked eyes. "Would he?"

"To whom do you refer?"

"Rockboy! I swear if he-"

"Rockboy?" Teal'c inquired yet knowing exactly who Jack was talking about.

Jack apparently was aware he knew also as he continued without further pause. "Do you think Daniel would ever try to stop me from retiring?"

Teal'c's eyebrows did a little dance as he considered Jack's question. "It would depend on your motives, I believe."

"Retiring?"

It took Jack a few seconds to realise it was Walter that had spoken, and it was more than likely the look in Walter's eyes that said 'did I just say that out loud?' that drew this conclusion for him. He scowled at Walter and shouted, "Out!" The Sergeant was gone in a flash.

"My motives, eh?" Jack looked intently at Teal'c, then to the ground. "What if they were… you know…?" Jack shrugged.

"I do not."

"You know?" Jack prompted and grimaced at the thought of having to spill this, to Teal'c, here, now. "About… happiness." Jack visibly winced and avoided Teal'c's eyes. He chanced a look up to see Teal'c's lips quirking. "Well?" He asked, getting impatient.

"I believe he would have no reason to stop you," Teal'c answered.

Jack sighed, "No, I suppose not." A thought came to him and he glanced sharply to Teal'c. "You?"

"You know I only wish for your wellbeing, O'Neill, if that should mean you need to step away from the fight then it should be done."

"Yeah…" Jack said quietly, "I thought so." He smiled faintly at Teal'c and his eyes drifted towards the briefing room, gravitating towards the Stargate. He noticed Walter at the window, looking down to the Gate Room and shouting at someone out of sight about some technoproblem no doubt.

"What of Colonel Carter?" Teal'c wondered.

Jack scratched his cheek and blinked his eyes in dismissal. "No, Carter's the last person that wants me to stay here right now."

"Are you certain?" Teal'c asked with a knowing edge to his voice. Jack was about to nod when Sam walked up beside Siler and he smiled as she got engrossed in helping the confused looking technician. "Does Colonel Carter not wish to remain in your presence?"

"Of course she does, T," Jack replied with a taste of irritation.

"And would not your resignation lessen the time she spends with you?"

"Not with what… wait…" Jack's mind finally connected with what Teal'c was saying. He smiled at the Jaffa's coyness and gave him a pat on the shoulder to which Teal'c bowed in response as Jack sailed past him for the door to the briefing room.

Jack turned the handle and poked his head out, "Oh, Carter?" The blond head bent over a notebook with Siler, whizzed around with an arrestingly sweet smile. He flashed a tight smile of his own in return. "A moment please?"

* * *

Short I know, but more will follow soon, I promise. Any thoughts? 


	23. Chapter 23

Inescapable: Chapter 23

Yes, I know, its a lot later than promised. It's short and I won't promise the next one will be along quickly because I'm back at college and have a lot of course work but I'll hopefully squweze some time for the story - its been going on too long. Thanks for your patience! Disclaimers and all in chapter 1.

* * *

Sir?" Sam enquired with a huge warm smile as she entered his office.

Jack narrowed his eyes at her as he leant his weight against his desk and folded his arms.

"How's it going, Carter?" He asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Good, sir … you?" Her smile was fading and she was beginning to wonder what the weird air was that accompanied the odd question.

"Oh, you know… the usual, thoughts of being senile…" He threw his eyebrows up and nudged his shoulders up in time. Her eyes were beginning to scan the room uneasily. Good, he was making her uncomfortable. Carter tended to get babbly when she was uncomfortable.

"Senile, sir?" She wondered with a very curious yet nervous expression.

Jack waved his hand at her in dismissal. "Enough about me. Anything bothering you, Carter?" She shook her head, the uneasiness was growing, permeating even the colour in her eyes and she knew he could see it, she knew he was up to something. He turned his lips downward in dissatisfaction. "No sudden cravings for paper?"

"Excuse me?"

"Or letters?" He ignored her interruption, noticing she was getting impatient. "Perhaps just paper with ink?"

"Sir, what is all this about?" Her brow was creased and her eyes set hard on him. She hadn't got time for this sort of pointless childish behaviour that Jack seemed to dabble in so frequently.

"You tell me." He swept a hand between them, she only stared at him.

"I've no idea what this is all about but I'm beginning to take aliens or at least a little senility into consideration." She folded her arms in a small act of defiance towards him.

Jack dropped his arms to his side and pushed himself from the support of the desk, taking a step closer to her. "Sam…" His tone was sad and his eyes shone with a melting comfort that dissolved her annoyance as she stared into them. "Have you changed your mind?" She blinked at him, he was closer now. He winced slightly, showing the wrinkles at the side of his eyes. "About us?"

Her mouth fell ajar just the slightest bit and her arms loosened to fall at her sides. She chewed on her lip and looked at the ground as she heard him sigh and back off.

"I see."

Her head shot up. "No." She said quickly. His eyes went to her and he waited for more. "No, I'd never change my mind. I couldn't." She promised.

"Then why are you trying to stop me from resigning?"

She broke eye contact for a second. "I don't know--"

"I know you took the letter, Sam." She pulled a face and stared at the wall as he continued. "And even if I wasn't sure, you're one helluva bad liar."

"Jack…"

"Why?"

"You can't give this up." She told him, a quietness in her voice, as if she didn't want to say it.

"I can and I will," he vowed.

"I won't let you."

"You can't stop--"

"If you have no reason to quit…" His eyes widened at her hidden threat. She wouldn't!

"Sam, this is insane!" He yelled.

"We need you here, Jack."

"And I need you!" He shouted so loud it made him shake, he was furious with her. After all the fighting he did to ignore it, after all the fighting she did to force him to accept it, she was acting as if it wasn't even worth trying for. "Sam…" His voice pleaded with her.

"No, Jack." She grimaced and turned a little from him.

There was no way she was walking away from this, from him, not now. "Goddamn it, Sam, I love you!" She froze.

"Wowa!" A gasp came from the other door and Jack spun to see Daniel's head peeping through the door. "Oh," he said as the tense atmosphere pelted him. "I was just stopping by to see how arrangements for the fishing trip--"

"Get out, Daniel," Jack spat less than kindly. He glanced towards Sam when he saw movement and realised she was leaving again. "Out!" He headed for her while pointing at Daniel. "Sam, get back here!" She was out the door and he ran to it. "That's an order!" He called after her but she had disappeared down the corridor already.

Jack sighed heavily. "Oi!" He needed time to calm down. He hung his head and closed the door. As he did so he heard someone clearing their throat behind him and he prayed for some semblance of restraint or else Daniel was going to be dismembered very soon. He turned and fixed hard eyes on Daniel.

"Am… so…" Daniel began as Jack attempted to ignore him and returned to his seat at the desk. "I guess that answers a lot of questions."

"Really?" Jack asked acerbically. "Well then I do hope you'll refrain from asking any."

"Of course," Daniel said, mildly afraid of being an undeserving victim of Jack's temper.

"Well then, I'll just go."

"You do that." Jack didn't even lift his head, hearing Daniel open the door.

A second passed and Daniel spoke very timidly. "So, does this mean the fishing trip is off?"

Daniel shot through the door and closed it before something very large and airborne hit the other side of the door.

* * *

Please let me know if I should continue! 


	24. Inescapable: Chapter 24

Inescapable: Chapter 24

AN: Disclaimers et al in chapter 1. It's very short but I haven't had time to do any more so I thought I'd post it anyway.

* * *

"Hey," Daniel almost whispered when he stuck his head inside Sam's lab. Her eyes lifted from some gizmo to look at him briefly. 

"Hey," she responded, equally as quiet, back busying herself with her newest toy. For all Daniel knew, it was a jazzed-up paper weight. He frowned at it idly.

"Can I come in?" She looked at him oddly, curiously. Since when did Daniel ever ask permission to barge in on someone? She took a long breath and sat back in her seat. Daniel took her movement as a yes and walked in.

"So," he gestured towards the object she had before her. "Paperweight or intricate alien device designed to disintegrate asses like Jack?" She smiled and when he grinned boyishly, a breath of silent laughter passed her lips.

"Neither," she paused, considering something. "Unfortunately." She met his eyes with mirth. He pushed at his glasses, satisfied he had defused the volatile Carter-bomb that Jack had just armed.

"You okay?" His eyes held a warm concern and she was briefly taken back to a time not too long ago when she had said it to him, a time before all this mess had begun, a time when things were much simpler.

Sam sighed to herself. A time when she wasn't truly happy, either.

"I think so," she offered.

"Wanna talk?"

"Not really." She shook her head and looked away.

"What you wanna talk about - this?" He pointed to the device on the desk before her. She glanced at it with disinterest.

"SG-13 found it on P3X-639; I guess I'm still trying to figure out exactly what it does." She smiled gently and poked at it with a finger. Daniel shifted on his feet, patience was not one of his strong points and he hadn't actually meant for her to take him up on that last comment. He grimaced and glanced about, biting his lip.

"So… Jack's really in love with you." He chewed on the inside of his mouth as he watched her lack of movement. Her shoulders suddenly sagged.

"Daniel," she sighed and lifted her head up to him. "I don't want to talk about this."

"I know," he replied and moved quickly to the opposite side of the desk to her. "So, you both love each other and he wants to retire. It's all good!"

"I thought I said I didn't want to discuss it, Daniel," she gritted her teeth against the words.

"I'm aware." He ignored her again. "So why are you down here moping and why is Jack upstairs throwing _very_ large objects at poor innocent people?"

Sam shot him an icy glare.

"Oooh," he cooed, a giggle escaping him. "That one actually gave me a chill!" He teased. "You _have_ been spending time with Jack!"

"Daniel!" She shouted but he refused to take her seriously. "Stop it!"

"No, Sam," he grew serious now; his voice grave and he leaned over the desk as he spoke. "You stop it! He's willing to give it all up for you and gets it thrown in his face. Work it out." He straightened up and turned towards the door, shaking his head and wondering when Sam had gotten so like Jack, so like him in fact that Daniel felt like he was talking to one person the whole time and not two. He took a breath and said, "It's not going to go away, you can't ignore it."

Sam stared after him, a little shaken from his sudden anger. Daniel may be right, but she was going to do her damndest to try first.

* * *

Again, sorry about the shortness, I'm tryin my best to find time to write, but the world is against me! Please tell me what you think anyway. 


	25. Inescapable: Chapter 25

Inescapable: Chapter 25

AN: Disclaimers et al in chapter 1. Again, this is horribly short, but life is also horribly getting in the way, I'm straight out of exams and now working every hour God gives me so this leaves little time for writing. I have also left this storyhanging, unforgivably, for a long time but I do plan to finish. Apologies for any spelling mistakes etc, I dont have a beta!

* * *

Walter hesitated slightly outside the General's door, his hand shakily wavering over the door knob. He gazed at the shiny silver object, which, if he turned, was sure to begin a sequence of movements that would have knots twisting in his stomach. Rumours had been circulating, or rather whizzing about that the General was retiring and even more interestingly, that he was retiring because of a certain, as of yet, off limits Lieutenant Colonel. Rumours that Walter himself would vow he had absolutely nothing to do with. Sure, he may have let slip to Major Colins what he heard in the General's office two days ago but nope, absolutely nothing to do with the juicy rumours that were presently entertaining the entire SGC. Nothing at all. So he had nothing to fear… but then, it was very apparent that General O'Neill was not in the best of moods since that day, and Walter ached to know why. So, his present predicament had him faced with some serious hostility should he turn the door knob. 

_Maybe I should ask Siler if--_

The door suddenly swung open with a merciless yank and a bark followed. "What!"

_Uhoh, _Walter uttered silently as he stared wide eyed and more than a little frightened at one General O'Neill situated less than a hair's breadth from his nose.

"Uh…" What was the excuse he had concocted when he had so foolishly decided to come here in the first place? It had come so easily to him earlier, as often did reasons to bother the General. Presently, he was beginning to curse that particularly prominent piece of his persona.

"Walter! You've been loitering out here for ten minutes!" He snapped. Loitering? He hadn't been loitering! Walter blinked and the General's hand rising made him jolt, his own arm flew up defensively, instinctively and when it was halfway up he soon sheepishly realised that the General was now waving the hand back and forth in front of his face. He absently smoothed his hand into a motion that pushed his glasses up instead. O'Neill only frowned angrily at him and stopped the waving. "So were you deciding if I needed a new colour doorknob or…" he paused, pulling a satirical grin. "… or are you here with some more happy news to top off my day? Has B'aal dropped by? Apophis risen from dead again?" His eyebrows wiggled in impatient questioning. Walter's mind was really trying to focus on excuses, any excuse… "Don't tell me, there are no doughnuts left?"

_Doughnuts! Ureka! Food!_

"Food!" He squealed, a finger thrusting in the air triumphantly as O'Neill glared at him strangely, probably wondering whether to slap Walter because he annoyed him or because he was acting crazy… probably because he simply wanted to. "Uh… I mean, I need you to look at food… the food… uh, sir." Walter cleared his throat and feeling the General's breath on his face and while attempting not to blink ferociously at the narrowing eyes boring into him, he so wished he could just put the smallest amount of space between them.

"Don't we generally, eat food, Walter?" He asked.

It was time to form a structured sentence. Walter was certain he could do it… if only he could just take a step back. "Yes, sir, very good, sir." The General's right eyebrow rose quizzically and his lips fell ajar. Walter hurried, "I need you to oversee the menu for Friday, sir." There it was, one little sentence that would have been his saviour about three or four blunders earlier. He bit back the urge to sigh with little effort.

"Friday?" He asked, confused and possibly forgetting his initial anger in the midst of it. Walter chanced an infinitesimal heartening smile. "What is it, Tapas day or something?"

Oh, how he wished he could see this reaction in advance. "For the President, sir."

"The President? Why in the hell am I overseeing the President's culinary delights! Doesn't Washington think I have enough asses to wipe? Or will I have to choose his toilet… paper…oh, crap…" A hand went to the General's face as revelation set in and Walter had to glance to the floor because of the grin that was twisting his lips.

"He's coming on Friday, sir. There was a--"

"Memo, yes, Walter." O'Neill bit, knowing full well the last statement was merely for the Sergeant's amusement.

"Shall I leave the menu with you, sir?"

The General blinked at him and sighed heavily. "No." He stepped away and turned for his office, leaving Walter momentarily panicked that he would have to decide himself! It wasn't his job, what if he screwed it up? Then O'Neill's head turned over his shoulder just as he reached for the door. "He likes steaks. That's all I can give you." When Walter continued to stand there O'Neill made a shooing gesture with his hands and with a quickly expanding uneasiness Walter stepped backwards. Just before the door slammed in his face he heard, "Just don't kill him with food poisoning." Walter scowled at the door and rubbed the tip of his nose, wondering if the door had grazed it.

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Reviews are always welcome! Hope you enjoyed. 


	26. Inescapable: Chapter 26

Inescapable: Chapter 26

AN: Disclaimers etc in chapter 1. Its a bit short but on the upside it's nearly finished. I hadn't forgotten about it - just haven't had much time for writing and when I did I couldn't seem to find a proper ending. Anyways, sorry it took so long but here's another part. Enjoy!

* * *

Sam's teeth pulled at the skin on her bottom lip, or what was left of it. She had spent the better part of the past two hours procrastinating on a simple mission request. The device that SG-13 recovered on P3X-639 had been boggling her for the better part of the week and just this morning Daniel had come in with some translations that could help her. And they did, she knew what it was, she knew what it did, problem was she couldn't turn the damn thing on. Apparently it needed a coded control to initialise it, a control she was certain was back on P3X-639. All she had to do was request permission to go to the planet and look for it. Yup, that was all she had to do. Just walk up to the General and ask him.

_Right, walking…_ she said to herself and looked at her legs. _Ok… calling?_ Her eyes flicked to her phone. _Nope. _She chewed on her lip again, which was stinging at this point, and her eyes fell curiously on her laptop as another means to ask her question came to her. She winced; he would be really pissed if she emailed him when he was only a few floors down. It would, however, mean that she wouldn't have to face him and that was a huge incentive. She was supposed to be off today, she could pretend she was emailing him from home. Talking to him, the subject matter notwithstanding, would be hard. She would be tempted to relent, let him retire and have what she wanted. Very tempted. She was tempted to talk to him for just that reason but… as she had come to realise it just wasn't right. It was selfish and conceited to think he should have to give up everything for her. She had felt differently when he'd first suggested it, hell she was so overjoyed that he loved her that everything else was passing through her brain in a blur. When reality had settled back in, when she had returned to the SGC, when she had seen him at work, when she fully comprehended what he was giving up for her, she realised she couldn't let him. He was too important, too important to the SGC and the SGC was very important to him. She knew she was important to him too, but she had a feeling that reality hadn't quite set in with Jack as quickly as it had her. If he retired - if he was even allowed to retire - he would soon get bored, without the SGC Jack would be lost. Sure he would have her but with her still working at the SGC would the peppered days she would be able to offer him on her time off be enough? She didn't think so. She exhaled noisily, blowing her cheeks out and resigned to sending the email. It might make him mad, but he was already furious. Her fingers tapped for a few moments. Short and concise sentences. No smileys. And send! Done. She grimaced, almost holding her breath.

She received a mail just as Daniel walked in. "Hey," he greeted her. She acknowledged him with a short nod and a smile before quickly returning her attention to opening the reply. It was from him. "I thought you were supposed to be off today?"

"Aren't you too?" She countered as she clicked on the mail.

"Yeah but, you know, with the occasion and all I thought I'd-"

"Dammit!" She bit and Daniel raised his eyebrows. She took a calming breath and Daniel peered over her shoulder to see what had evoked that reaction. It was an email. It read 'BIG FAT NO!!!!!!!!'

"That's a lot of exclamation points," Daniel muttered as his eyes moved up to see the email was from Jack. He narrowed his eyes and moved so that he could speak to Sam's face. "You emailed him about the mission?" He asked, incredulous. Sam only shrugged. "Boy, you two are unbelievable!"

"Will you ask him?" She asked quickly, ignoring his comments.

Daniel chuckled at her desperation and waved the notebook he was holding in the air. "No way!"

"Please?" Her big sad eyes seemed to carry and endless echo of her pleading and he looked away from them. God help Jack, with puppy dog eyes like that she would be able to get him to do almost anything.

"I'm not getting involved again," he told her firmly, walking away. She hopped off her stool and followed him.

"Come on Daniel, you want to go as well. You can't tell me you're not interested after translating all the information SG13 brought back!" She argued passionately, following him to the door where he stopped, thinking.

"Sam…"

"Please, Daniel?" She begged. "Even if I asked him face to face he'll still say no because it's me asking."

Daniel sucked in a breath. She had a point. "Fine. I'll ask him." A smile broke out on her face and she hugged him briefly, bouncing back on her heels. Daniel pushed his glasses up his nose and raised his eyebrows. "He'll assume you've sent me and probably say no anyway." As he walked off, Sam hoped he was wrong. She could do with a few days off world.

* * *

"You know," Jack interrupted Daniel's speech about P3X639 with a quietly enquiring tone. "I thought you of all people would be with me on this."

"Um…" Daniel blinked and licked his lips.

"I suppose I have been off the team for quite a while," he continued, rising from his seat and pushing it back so he could walk around it. "And I guess it's only natural that you and Sam have grown close."

Daniel's mouth fell ajar but before he had gathered his thoughts, Jack was off again and moving closer to him. "I just thought that no matter the cause or the person, you would always choose the right side." Jack was standing only a meter from Daniel now and in the midst of the strange conversation his proximity was making Daniel very nervous and confused, definitely confused. "So you think she's right?" He demanded to know, edging closer to Daniel.

"Erm… what?" Daniel stuttered, cursing Sam. This was all her fault.

"I mean, do you think Sam and I should be together or not?" Daniel hated Sam right now, possibly more than Jack did. How in the hell was he gonna get out of this unscathed? He shifted his weight on his legs, pretending to think of the answer and then, miraculously, Jack's phone rang. Daniel's body sagged in relief, but it was short lived as he realised Jack wasn't moving.

"Are - Aren't you going to answer that?" He asked, motioning to the phone with a jab of his finger.

"Aren't you going to answer my question?"

"Jack…" Daniel knew he was in trouble. Jack was acting very strangely, these kind of crazy open conversations were seriously unusual not to mention the man looked a little unhinged. Daniel was afraid that whatever he answered would make things messy. "I… you know, you're already pissed off so… yes, yes I think you should be together. Always have. I just, I guess I never thought it would be this hard." Daniel fought the urge to shut his eyes at Jack's reaction and instead kept them open to see Jack shrug.

Turning slight from Daniel, as if ashamed to say it, he whispered, "You and me both." The phone stopped ringing, unnoticed. Daniel watched Jack still a moment then circle around animatedly. "She pushed and she pushed for this to happen and when I finally grow a pair and do what I've wanted - what we wanted for so long she suddenly calls it all off - as if it's totally her decision!" Jack arms swung in a blur through the air as his rant continued and his passion for the subject vented via his mouth. "Who does she think she is deciding what I should or shouldn't do with my life? Honestly, how can the smartest woman on Earth be so goddamn stupid? Did she suddenly have some kind of… of…?" He was almost yelling now, his face flushed with the effort. "Carter lobotomy?!" Daniel couldn't help a smile, a worried one, but a smile nonetheless. "In fact, you know what? I think it's about time I told her exactly how stupid she is." Jack strode purposefully past Daniel in a whirl and marched down the corridor leaving the archaeologist a little stunned in his wake.

"Oh boy," Daniel muttered to himself. He shook his head and vaguely registered a call over the intercom for Jack, something about a meeting. They'd be lucky if Jack heard it, actually they'd be a lot luckier if they just stopped calling him right now. He headed off towards the Control Room to tell Walter that Jack was unavailable for a while when the Sergeant himself came barrelling around the corner.

"Holy--" Daniel yelped in fright and jumped back just in time to stop Walter careening into him.

"General O'Neill?" Walter panted, bending forwards. "Where?"

"I don't think it would be wise for you to bother Jack right now, Walter…"

"Then it's a good think it's not Walter who plans to bother him!" A booming, distinctly irritated voice commanded Daniel's attention and before he could stop it from slipping out Daniel's lips whispered, "Crap…"

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Like/hate? Let me know! 


	27. Chapter 27

Inescapable: Chapter 27

AN: Disclaimers etc in chapter 1. Again, sorry its taken so long and that its so short. Nearly finished though!

* * *

Sam stared at her screen and blinked hard to break the reverie she had managed to fall into for the past hour. She blew out her cheeks as she realised her hands were hovering over her keyboard, her fingers aimlessly rubbing together again. She couldn't concentrate for the life of her and her research was going nowhere, she even found herself briefly wondering what project she was actually working on. 

"This isn't working…" she resigned to herself in a whisper, a whisper almost lost by the loud and hasty thump of boots on concrete that was shortly followed by "You're damn right it isn't!!"

"Oh, boy…" She slid off her seat cautiously and eyed Jack like he was about to set upon her like a very hungry, very angry lion. She swallowed, "Sir?" It came out as a squeak and his eyes only twitched at it. "Carter…" He snapped then suddenly stopped, the hand that flew up with his statement was waving a lonely purposeless finger in the air and then in a blur before her eyes the arm it was attached to advanced on her.

* * *

Daniel stared open mouthed as he realised what he had just said. President Hayes glared holes through his head and wondered exactly what was going through the mind of the man gaping at him like a fish out of water. 

"Dr. Jackson!" Walter scurried between the both of them before something ignited. "Ah, you remember the President was coming by for a short lunch with General O'Neill today?"

Daniel did remember, Daniel had remembered this morning, that was why chose to stay at the mountain instead of taking the day off. So he had remembered this morning and he remembered now, where had this little gem gone in between him getting up this morning and him saying 'Crap' to the President? He grimaced, cleared his throat noisily and pushed his glasses up his nose, regaining his composure.

"Lunch was supposed to start 15 minutes ago! Where the hell is he?" The President demanded. He had a very tight schedule and hated tardiness to boot.

"He's ah…" Daniel searched his mind for some excuse. Shouting at his 2IC for not hooking up with him was definitely not the way to go. "He's ah…" Daniel searched, and searched but nothing was coming. He sought Walter with panicked eyes.

"Sir, perhaps if you wait-"

"For God's sake I'll find him myself!" The Presidents sentance tailed off as he stormed down around the corner, calling to a passing airman as he went.

"Walter…"

"Tell me he's doing paperwork?" Walter hung his head and hoped for the best.

"This isn't going to be pretty." Daniel said, half horrified to follow, half intrigued at what would happen if the President made his way to Sam's lab. "Come on," he tugged at Walter and they broke into a jog.

* * *

Carter was somewhere in between sheer vertigo and a crazy case of jelly legs or at least that's what her mind concluded during the two seconds that she allowed it a moment to focus on the outside world. Yes, jelly legs. So why did her legs feel like jelly? Well, maybe it was because she was shocked at what Jack had done, maybe it was particularly what he was doing but the split second she let her eyes flutter open she decided it was because the President was standing in the doorway looking like someone just slapped his mother in the face. She propelled her arms against Jack with such speed that he almost fell on his ass and balancing himself he yelled "Sam! What the-" 

"What the hell is going on here?"

Jack's pupils dilated so quick he thought the sensation would make him pee himself. He had a good idea who that voice belonged to, but the sheer terror on Carter's face left no room for doubt. Still shaky from kissing Carter and getting thrown across the room by her he circled around clumsily on one foot and stumbled forward. "Crap…" he muttered as he slowly, painfully brought his body up to its full height to stand face to face with the President.

"Sir, I can explain!" He said quickly and thrusting his hands into the air.

Hayes folded his arms. "Oh really?" He asked smugly. "Please, go on." He prompted Jack.

"Wh…" Jack waved his hand around and tried again, "I… you see…" he turned to Carter who appeared slightly catatonic, no help there so. "We… uh…" Jack pulled his lips tightly against his face in defeat. "Ok, so maybe I can't."

"You were kissing?" Hayes offered, his stance becoming more threatening by the second.

Jack's hand dropped and he stuffed it into his pocket and grimaced. "Well, when you put it like that…" Jack agreed.

"Jack, God knows there's not a lot of times I want to hear this but please, please tell me that one of you is under some kind of alien influence or something?" Hayes begged him. Jack looked directly at Hayes and thought about taking the out and then he looked at Carter.

"I can't do that, Sir," Jack relented, looking sadly to the ground. He heard Hayes take a long deep breath.

"In that case, General O'Neill you give me no choice…" Jack listened idly as Hayes relieved him of duty and recited the possible consequences he faced. He briefly registered Daniel and Walter skidding to a halt behind the man but what he did feel was Carter behind him, not touching him, just there and as the President finished he smiled sadly at him.

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Well, let me know what you think!!! 


	28. Inescapable: Chapter 28

Inescapable: Chapter 28

AN: Disclaimers etc in chapter 1. Enjoy!

* * *

"Where's Jack?" Daniel blasted through the doorway of Jack's office to see Henry Hayes petering over the desk, wearing a troubled expression. Henry looked up at the man almost hovering above the ground with trepidation. He sighed a long, drawn sigh. "He's about," he told Daniel.

Daniel's brow creased and his body stilled for just a moment then, licking his lips, he remembered why he was so agitated in the first place.

"You can't do this."

Henry's eyebrows climbed in a gesture that told anyone he wasn't used to hearing that sentence. Daniel coughed a little, also belatedly realising this truth and at the same time unwilling to back down simply because it was the President.

"Dr.Jackson-"

"Daniel."

"Daniel," Henry began as he lowered his weary body into Jack's seat. "I don't have a choice; believe me, if I could find a way out of this I would take it. But I have an obligation and my conscience is telling me that what Jack did is wrong."

"You're wrong." Daniel insisted in a way that had Henry forget about his insubordinate attitude and want to listen to the young man. "I mean…" Daniel shook his head as if clearing it and he moved closer to where Henry was sitting. "What if what you saw isn't really what you think?"

"And what would that be?" Henry was curious to know what Daniel thought was going on in his head.

"That Jack is taking advantage of a junior officer." Daniel said it somewhat uneasily, the words leaving a foul taste in his mouth.

Henry blew his cheeks out. "Are you suggesting that Colonel Carter has an equal part in this because if you are then you really aren't helping either of them, Dr. Jackson."

"It's Daniel," he corrected, disdainfully. "And no, no…." Daniel's arms flew up in frustration. "You don't understand, you can't just come in here and ruin two people's lives because of some stupid rule in some stupid book. You'll never find anyone like Sam and Jack and frankly, if they go…" He folded his arms defiantly. "So do I."

"That'd be a mighty fine gesture, Daniel, but-"

"Mighty stupid you mean." Daniel swirled around to see Jack stopped in the doorway. Daniel was about to counter but Jack waved at him as he passed by him. "Henry, let's get this over with, eh?" Jack threw his arms outward in a lay it on me gesture.

"Jack?" Daniel spoke from behind with a fearful edge to his voice.

"It's over Daniel," Jack said, annoyed, over his shoulder.

Henry watched with interest at the two men, and found his interest piquing when the big Jaffa strode in with a quiet presence that brought heavy waves of strength with him. Henry took a deep breath; these were good people, the best in fact.

"If he takes you or Sam, I'm gone too, Jack." Resolution dripped thickly from Daniel's words and the finality of the argument was settled for Jack when Teal'c's deep voice echoed Daniel's threat in agreement. "As will I."

"Henry, ignore them-." A familiar surprised 'oh' floated from the doorway as a pair of boots stopped dead in the wake of the scene in the room. They all turned to see Carter standing there.

She cleared her throat quietly and let her eyes fall quickly on Jack before seeking the President. "I came to talk to you, Sir."

"So I see."

"I…" she hesitated a moment then seemed to reassure herself as she straightened her posture and moved into the room. "I came to tell you this is my fault."

"What?!" Jack spat.

"I kissed General O'Neill. He had nothing-"

"Carter, zip it!" Jack ordered and she silenced but didn't look at him, instead she held the gaze of the President, watching the confusion on his face. He shook his head violently and blinked as if this was all too much. When Jack leaned closer, about to erupt into a tirade, Henry held up his hands to the room. It was his turn.

"Ok, let me get this straight." He looked at Jack. "Your story is you coerced Colonel Carter," he pointed his thumb at Carter and then looked to her. "You say you what? Seduced him?" She grimaced and just stopped herself from biting her lip. "You," he jabbed an accusing finger at Daniel. "Make it sound like they've both been at this for a very long time and…" He hesitated when his eyes rested on Teal'c. "Well I guess you haven't given your two-pence yet." Teal'c arched his eyebrow in a challenging, angry manner.

"I believe it is no one's place to tell anyone who they should or should not love." A groan, a cough and a sharp intake of breath released themselves into the room at once. "Especially two warriors who have sacrificed everything, including a life together for your country, for your world." Henry was dragging his hand down his face and noticing the way neither Jack nor Colonel Carter would meet his eyes. Then he watched Jack throw a fleeting, sorrowful glance at Carter and Henry knew.

"Crap…" He whispered. "Holy crap."

"I feel it would be unwise for you to take any action when the only they crime committed is the great sacrifice they took upon themselves." Teal'c finished and Henry swore he saw the Colonel's eyes glisten but she bowed her head further and he couldn't tell for sure. He needed to think. He had two of the finest officers in the world right on the edge of his sword here and God knew he wanted an out… he just didn't see one.

"I…"

"General! General O'Neill!!" Heads whipped around and bodies tensed, ready to fight at a moments notice from years of training. Walter came careening into the office at an alarming rate and a quick check by all saw that he wasn't being chased. That was always good. Attempting to stop wasn't so easy and Walter barrelled into Daniel before being halted unceremoniously by Teal'c's brawny grasp.

"What is it?" Jack asked with urgency.

Walter was slightly folded over, appearing to be in pain as he sucked in air and waved a page in the air. "I found it," he gasped. "I found it!" Everyone frowned and Jack snapped the piece of paper from him, his eyes squinting at the page as he read.

"Let me see!" Henry barked motioning frantically with his hands and Jack pushed it into his grasp with a glint in his eyes that made Henry's heart skip a beat. He dropped his eyes, read and smiled.

"What is it?" Daniel wondered aloud with impatience.

"It would seem, Daniel, that General O'Neill here, wrote a letter of resignation a few days ago."

"So…?"

"So, maybe this resignation has already been approved and Jack has only been on base today, for instance, as a favour and not as his job?"

"Oh."

"Indeed."

"YeahSureyYaBetcha!"


End file.
